With TikTok’s U.S. deadline looming, a fresh contender is entering the ring, and it’s bringing blockchain with it.
Meet Own, a new decentralized social platform that just dropped its public beta. Think TikTok, but for the Web3 era: swipeable feed, short-form video, images, text posts, DMs… but with one major twist: creators get paid in crypto from day one.
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While traditional platforms gate monetization behind follower counts, region, or partner programs, Own pays all creators directly in $OWN tokens, no matter their size or where they live. The token is fully tradable and backed by real revenue. A portion of the platform’s earnings is used to buy back tokens from the market,creating a loop designed to keep value in the ecosystem.
The app was built by Amir Kaltak and Katia Zaitsev (formerly of web3 startup Lexit), alongside Sarah Mick, who helped design Tinder and Bumble. So yes, there’s both crypto cred and mainstream UX sensibility here.
Creators win big
Own promises creators up to 50% more revenue than legacy platforms. Here’s the breakdown:
- Tipping: Creators keep 80% (vs. TikTok’s 50%)
- Brand Sponsorships: Creators keep 90%
- Own Shop (their TikTok Shop rival): Creators keep 95%
- Content Licensing: Creators keep 90% when licensing videos to brands
There’s even a Reddit-style upvote/downvote system that affects visibility and leaderboard ranking, giving the community more control over what rises to the top.
And of course, everything is logged on Base Layer 2 blockchain, meaning full transparency and verifiable content ownership. That means creators can license or sell their work with confidence.
The bigger idea?
Own isn’t just another TikTok dupe. It’s a bet on a future where creators own their content, their income, and their identity, no middlemen, no borders.
As CCO Sarah Mick puts it: “Owning your content, global equal pay, and fair compensation should be the norm, not the exception.”
The monetization features go live in Q3, with Own Shop launching in beta later this year. The app is free to download now on iOS and Android, with nearly 40,000 people already on the waitlist.
Whether or not Own can scale its vision remains to be seen. But one thing’s clear: the social web is shifting, and creators are done waiting to get paid.
