Amid Security Concerns
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, announced Monday that he is joining a U.S. effort to acquire TikTok, becoming a strategic advisor to the initiative. The campaign, known as “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” is spearheaded by real estate and sports tycoon Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty, with investor Kevin O’Leary, known for the TV show Shark Tank, also on board.
The bid introduces a crowdfunding component, aiming to give everyday individuals and small businesses the chance to own a stake in TikTok’s future. This initiative is a response to the U.S. law requiring TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, due to national security concerns.
“I’ve spent my entire career building tech that puts power back in people’s hands — that’s what got me excited about The People’s Bid,” Ohanian said in a statement. He emphasized that this effort goes beyond TikTok, aiming to “fundamentally rewire how the internet works.”
Project Liberty plans to integrate a custom blockchain platform into TikTok, allowing users more control and ownership over their data.
TikTok, which was briefly removed from app stores in January due to the U.S. government’s concerns about data privacy, was reinstated after a 75-day pause ordered by President Donald Trump. The company faces a looming deadline to divest from ByteDance or face a potential ban, with a reprieve lasting until early April.
With the clock ticking, several high-profile entities, including Microsoft, Oracle, and internet personality MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), are competing to purchase the app. Despite these bids, TikTok has shown little urgency to sell, as new tech developments, such as Chinese firm DeepSeek’s AI chatbot, continue to capture attention.
