Brief Take:
- Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian hinted at buying TikTok
- Ohainan’s announced plans to put the social media platform on-chain may revive SocialFi.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has confirmed that he’s considering acquiring TikTok US, hinting at plans to place some of the social media’s features on-chain. Should Ohanian’s plans succeed, we may witness one of the biggest SocialFi reawakening of recent times.
Reddit’s Ohanian joins race to buy TikTok
Reuters first reported Ohanian’s involvement in Project Liberty’s bid to purchase TikTok’s US engagements. Per the report, Project Liberty’s founder Frank McCourt announced that Ohanian would join the team as a strategic adviser for social media issues.
The social media mogul confirmed the statement via a tweet from his X handle on Mar 3. “I’m officially now one of the people trying to buy TikTok US – and bring it on-chain. TikTok has been a game-changer for creators, and its future should be built by them,” Ohanian said. “Users should own their data. Creators should own their audience. Period.”
Exciting news for the digital world…
— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) March 4, 2025
I'm officially now one of the people trying to buy TikTok US — and bring it on-chain.
TikTok has been a game-changer for creators, and it's future should be built by them↓ pic.twitter.com/SPq1Ppv1kK
However, Ohanian is only one among the many potential candidates to purchase TikTok. Other candidates include American Investor Consortium, David Baszucki, co-founder of Roblox, alongside Mathan McCauley and Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast). Microsoft, Walmart, Oracle, and Perplexity AI continue the list of interested companies seeking ownership at TikTok’s US.
Ohanian’s TikTok may revive SocialFi
Project Library, founded by Frank McCourt, seeks to rebuild TikTok’s US activities to “put people in control of their digital identities and data.” The proposed idea would rely on “Frequency,” a decentralized social network protocol that allows users to own their data and use Polkadot’s infrastructure.
“Frequency will empower these principles to become reality. And with transparency and accountability at the core, this new TikTok won’t just be fairer – it’ll be GREATER,” Ohanian said on X.
Starting in 2022, Ohanian’s Reddit invested excess cash reserves into Bitcoin (BTC). Ether (ETH), and Polygon (POL). However, the platform sold most of these assets in Q3 2024. The platform also once ran a blockchain-based rewards service called “Community Points,” which has closed since late 2023.
Chances are that Ohanian’s TikTok could revive SocialFi and highlight a new era for cryptocurrency in the US. SocialFi combines the principles of social media and decentralized finance to bring decentralized services to social media engagements.
