In a stunning twist to the high-stakes TikTok bidding conflict, billionaire Tim Stokely, founding father of OnlyFans, has reportedly teamed up with the HBAR Basis to make a late-stage bid for the short-form video large from ByteDance.
The proposal, submitted this week to the White Home, brings a brand new tech angle to one of the crucial carefully watched offers in current reminiscence, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Stokely’s new enterprise, Zoop, is a mainstream content material platform that rewards creators for engagement—a mannequin that mirrors Web3 ideas of possession and income sharing.
In partnership with the HBAR Basis, which oversees the Hedera community’s crypto treasury, Zoop goals to reimagine TikTok as a extra decentralized, creator-forward platform.
Whereas particulars of the bid stay below wraps, the partnership is reportedly backed by a consortium of buyers.
BREAKING: ONLYFANS FOUNDER TIM STOKELY'S ZOOP PARTNERS WITH HBAR FOUNDATION TO BID FOR TIKTOK – PER REUTERS pic.twitter.com/bUuE4mNN2x
— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) April 2, 2025
White Home Critiques Competing TikTok Proposals
The timing is crucial. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese language mum or dad firm, has till April 5 to divest the app’s US operations or face a nationwide ban below a bipartisan regulation aimed toward limiting international affect.
In the meantime, the White Home, led by Vice President JD Vance on this course of, is reviewing a number of proposals, successfully performing as auctioneer in a take care of huge geopolitical and cultural stakes.
Curiously, the crypto-leaning Zoop–HBAR bid arrives alongside different last-minute gives, together with one from Amazon, in accordance with the New York Occasions.
Relatedly, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian additionally joined a competing bid final month, proposing a decentralized governance mannequin that offers customers extra management over their information and the algorithm.
Crypto Visionaries Set Sights on TikTok
The Zoop-HBAR bid stands out because it displays a rising view within the crypto house that large Web2 platforms, if purchased and reshaped, may assist take a look at key Web3 concepts like digital possession, token rewards, and shared management.
As Washington weighs nationwide safety issues towards constitutional rights and enterprise pursuits, crypto-backed gamers are rising as sudden contenders within the race to amass one of many world’s most influential apps.
The put up Hedera-Linked Crypto Basis, OnlyFans Founder Enter Late Bidding Battle for TikTok: Report appeared first on Cryptonews.