Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has confirmed his involvement in an ambitious project: the acquisition of TikTok’s US operations with the aim of transferring the platform to a blockchain. Faced with the threat of a ban in the United States, this initiative aims to redefine data ownership and audience control for users and content creators. Led by Project Liberty, this project is based on the decentralized protocol “Frequency” and the Polkadot infrastructure.
TikTok on the blockchain: redefining data ownership
Alexis Ohanian’s vision is clear: “Users should own their data. Creators should own their audience. Period.” This statement sums up the main objective of the acquisition project: to restructure TikTok to give individuals control over their personal information and digital identity. Project Liberty, founded by Frank McCourt, wants to build a consortium to acquire TikTok’s US operations and “rearchitect the platform to give people control over their digital identities and data.”
This project is based on “Frequency”, a decentralized social network protocol that gives users ownership of their personal data and uses Polkadot’s infrastructure. Frequency would allow for greater transparency and accountability, making TikTok not only fairer, but also “better”, according to Ohanian. Ohanian’s involvement as a strategic advisor, specializing in social media, is a major asset for this ambitious project.
Reddit and blockchain: a history marked by experiments
Ohanian is not a novice when it comes to blockchain technologies. Reddit, the platform he co-founded, has already explored various initiatives in this field. In 2022, Reddit invested some of its cash reserves in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Polygon (POL), before selling most of these assets in the third quarter of 2024. The platform also launched a blockchain-based avatar system, “Reddit Collectible Avatars,” NFTs on the Polygon blockchain, offering benefits to users.
Although NFT sales have declined as the crypto market has slowed and Reddit’s head of RCAs, Bianca Wyler, left her role in January, Reddit has also explored a blockchain-based rewards system, “Community Points,” which was discontinued in late 2023. These past experiments, while mixed, are a testament to Ohanian and Reddit’s continued interest in the potential of blockchain in the social media space. The next step could be a digital ownership revolution on TikTok.
