Tim Stokely, the founder of OnlyFans, and a cryptocurrency foundation have joined forces to place a late-stage bid for the acquisition of TikTok’s U.S. operations from ByteDance.
What Happened: The bid was put forth this week by Zoop, Stokely’s latest venture, and the HBAR Foundation, which manages the Hedera HBAR/USD blockchain network, according to details shared with Benzinga.
The official X account of HBAR also posted a cryptic message with the TikTok logo and reposted media reports about the bid. Zoop didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for a comment.
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“We are committed to ensuring TikTok’s U.S. operations remain under American ownership and governance,” said RJ Phillips, Zoop co-founder and CEO. "Our bid for TikTok isn’t just about changing ownership—it’s about creating a new paradigm where both creators and their communities benefit directly from the value they collectively generate.”
Unlike OnlyFans, which is known for adult entertainment, Zoop is a mainstream content platform that pays both creators and fans.
Hedera is a public blockchain network that allows for the development of decentralized applications on top of it. HBAR lies at the center of the network, helping secure it through staking.
The network attracted criticism for misleading marketing last year after a posting about BlackRock tokenizing a U.S. Treasury money market fund on its blockchain. The announcement sent the token soaring. However, when BlackRock clarified that it was not actively involved in the tokenization process and denied any commercial relationship with Hedera, the token came crashing down.
In March 2023, an attacker exploited the smart contract code of the network to transfer Hedera Token Service (HTS) tokens from targeted accounts to their own account, leading to the network being taken offline.
Why It Matters: This bid comes amid a flurry of interest in TikTok. Amazon reportedly made a last-minute bid to acquire the popular content creation platform in its entirety, just days before the popular video app faces a U.S. ban if it does not sever ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Last month, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian expressed his intention to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations and transition it to a blockchain-based platform. Ohanian joined Project Liberty—a consortium led by billionaire Frank McCourt to purchase the platform and transition it into an open-source, decentralized protocol.
Price Action: At the time of writing, HBAR was exchanging hands at $0.1660, up 0.25% over the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Year-to-date, the cryptocurrency has tumbled 43%.
Image via Shutterstock
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