How it works
When you buy an ebook from a big store, you are really just renting it. You cannot sell it, lending is crippled, and if the store removes it your library disappears. Ownbound gives you back what a physical book always offered, and keeps the technology out of your way.
The digital paperback
A book on Ownbound is an asset you hold, not a permission slip a company can withdraw.
Buy a book once and keep it forever. Ownership is recorded on a public ledger, not locked inside one company's database, so it survives no matter what happens to any single store.
Send a book to a friend and it truly leaves your shelf. Just like a paperback, only one person can read it at a time. Set a due date of up to a year; you get it back when the loan ends.
When a loan is returned, or the due date passes, reading rights come home to you automatically. No expiry games, no permission slips, no support tickets.
Finished with a book? Pass it on to a new reader and recoup some value, the way you would with a used paperback. The author earns a royalty on the sale too.
Getting started
You do not need to be a "crypto person" to use Ownbound.
1
Use your email or a Google account. A secure personal library is created for you in seconds, with no seed phrases to write down.
2
Open any book in your browser. Ownbound checks that you are the current holder and unlocks the pages on your own device. Nothing is saved to disk.
3
Lend or send a book to a friend's address. Reading access moves to them, and returns to you when the loan is over.
The technology, quietly
You never have to think about any of this, but here is what keeps a book truly yours and truly one-reader-at-a-time.
Every book is encrypted before it is stored anywhere. The key that unlocks it never sits in a public file.
To read, your wallet quietly signs a one-time challenge. The key is released only after a live check that you are the current holder on the ledger, then the pages are decrypted on your device.
The ledger records exactly one holder per copy. Lend a book and access moves; you keep ownership but lose reading rights until it returns. No copies multiply.
No chains, no locks, no crypto homework. Ownbound uses this machinery to protect your rights, not to restrict them. The aim is the freedom of a paperback, safely.
Side by side
| Typical ebook store | Ownbound | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A revocable licence to view | Ownership you hold and control |
| Lending | Blocked, or "14 days, once" | Free, up to a year, one reader at a time |
| Reselling | Not possible; resale value is zero | Sell it on and recoup value |
| If the store closes | Your library can vanish | Ownership lives on a public ledger |
| Author on resale | Earns nothing | Earns a royalty every time |
The library is live on a test network and free to try. Sign in with your email and browse the shelf.
Open the library