Author: WOO
Background: Celebrity endorsement effect, Vitalik + CZ focus
Decentralized science DeSci is actually not a new concept. As early as March last year, the research institution Messrai published a related report. Recently, this track has attracted market attention again, which is inseparable from Binance’s investment in BIO Protocol.
On November 8, Binance completed strategic financing for BIO Protocol. The round and amount were not disclosed. Thanks to Binance's investment, the BIO Genesis community fundraising campaign initiated by BIOProtocol instantly reached the upper limit, raising a total of US$33 million. CZ also tweeted that he would participate in DeSci's small entrepreneur gathering, and Vitalik was also at the gathering.
With Binance’s solid investment and the endorsement of two big names in the cryptocurrency circle, what exactly is DeSci? Which projects are worth knowing? Let’s take a look with WOO X Research.
Source: @bioprotocol
What is DeSci?
DeSci stands for Decentralized Science, which is used to solve various problems encountered in scientific research: including opaque funding allocation, knowledge monopoly, and the openness of scientific research data.
The following are the main features and core concepts of DeSci:
- Decentralized Fund Raising: Traditional scientific research funding usually comes from the government, academic institutions or large enterprises, which may be affected by political or commercial interests, and funding applications are usually time-consuming, and insufficient funding for research projects is commonplace. In DeSci, researchers can raise funds directly from the community through DAOs on the blockchain, such as using cryptocurrencies or issuing tokens for scientific research projects, so that more people can participate in and support innovative research.
- Open data and knowledge sharing: DeSci encourages the storage of research data and results on the blockchain in an open manner to ensure the transparency and immutability of data and solve the current data closure problem in academia. At the same time, researchers can track the citations and use of their research through blockchain technology to ensure fair distribution of knowledge.
- Incentive mechanism: DeSci usually uses tokens or other blockchain tools as incentives to allow participants (such as researchers, reviewers, data providers, etc.) to get rewards in the system. For example, when researchers publish papers or open data, they can get token rewards to encourage more people to share scientific results.
- Improve peer review mechanisms: Traditional academic journals and peer review processes can be inefficient, biased, or expensive. DeSci uses smart contracts and a distributed review system to achieve a more transparent and efficient review process and allow reviewers to receive fair compensation.
- NFT and intellectual property: In DeSci, research results can be minted into NFTs to track and manage intellectual property. For example, a groundbreaking research result can be put on the chain in the form of NFT to ensure the ownership and benefits of the original author.
The main point of DeSci is that blockchain projects must be funded first, and the development of applications is usually decoupled from the funds raised, resulting in excess funds and overvaluation. However, the opposite is true for scientific research: it is difficult to raise funds, it is difficult to see results in scientific research in a short period of time, and there is a low level of hype.
DeSci is about transferring hot money from the cryptocurrency circle to the field of scientific research. The narrative of this track is that blockchain can truly help scientific research projects and benefit society, which also opens up imagination space for the valuation ceiling of this track.
Source: @_kaitoai
Representative Projects
VITA
As mentioned above, Binance invested in BIO Protocol, which was created by one of the founders of VitaDAO. It can be said that the current token VITA is the most orthodox DeSci project. VitaDAO was founded in 2021 and focuses on funding and promoting early longevity science research with the aim of extending human healthy life span. As mentioned above, Vitlik and CZ participated in the DeSci party. During the party, Vitalik showed CZ VitaDAO's first longevity product, VD001, a natural high-dose spermidine supplement approved by the Thai FDA.
Not only has it been supported by celebrities in the cryptocurrency circle, VitaDAO received $4.1 million in financing as early as January 30, 2023, with participation from Pfizer's venture capital department, Shine Capital, L1 Digital, and Balaji Srinivasan. It is worth noting that this is the first investment by the well-known pharmaceutical company Pfizer in the Web 3 field.
- Public chain: ETH
- Current coin price: 6.2
- Current market value: $160 million
- Number of addresses holding coins: 4,076
- Market value historical high: Current ATH, $160 million
RIF
It is a meme coin launched by Pump.Science, which is a meme coin issuance platform launched by Molecule DAO, an organization under BIO Protocol, at the Token2049 Solana Breakpoint Conference. However, Pump.Science is not like Pump Fun where anyone can issue coins. The coin issuance project must be linked to scientific research.
Currently, the meme coins recognized by Pump.Science are only RIF and URO. RIF stands for the antibiotic "Rifampicin", which mainly inhibits the synthesis of bacterial RNA and has a significant bactericidal effect. It can treat diseases including tuberculosis, leprosy, trachoma, and Legionnaires' disease.
Rifampicin has been shown to activate cells' natural defenses against stress and damage. It has been shown to extend lifespan and improve health in worms, and while it's still early days, we don't know if rifampicin can produce similar effects in humans, but it's an exciting direction for anti-aging therapy.
- Public chain: Solana
- Current coin price: 0.1705
- Current market value: $170 million
- Number of addresses holding coins: 20,146
- Market capitalization: $183 million
Source: Dexscreener
URO
It is a meme coin launched by Pump.Science. It is the only two officially certified coins of Pump.Science along with $RIF.
Urolithin A is a compound found naturally in pomegranates. What makes it special is that it can do a "house cleaning" for your cells. It helps clear out old, dysfunctional mitochondria so that fresh, healthy mitochondria can thrive. Think of it as a reset button for your cells, helping them to function optimally.
- Public chain: Solana
- Current coin price: 0.0466
- Current market value: $46.6 million
- Number of addresses holding coins: 12,674
- Market value historical high: $60 million
Source: Dexscreener
SCIHUB: An open-source academic paper library founded by neuroscientist Alexandra Elbakyan in 2011, with the goal of making academic papers free for everyone to use, but it also raised concerns about copyright infringement. Scihub was sued by publisher Elsevier in 2017 and was ordered to pay $15 million in compensation. 0xAA, the founder of WTF Academy, purchased 22% of the total supply of SCIHUB tokens and then transferred 20% to Alexandra Elbakyan's wallet to show support for Scihub.
- Public chain: Solana
- Current coin price: 0.0486
- Current market value: $49 million
- Number of addresses holding coins: 13,842
- Market value historical high: $73 million
Source: @SciHubFans
Conclusion: Can DeSci really bring practical applications?
The main narrative of DeSci is that hot money in the cryptocurrency circle is transmitted to the scientific research community, and cryptocurrencies can be used to improve the world. However, DeSci is not a new concept that has only appeared this year. VitaDAO was established as early as 2021, and even the world-renowned pharmaceutical company Pfizer participated in the investment. However, it has been developing tepidly and has not received market attention until Binance’s investment and CZ and Vitalik’s participation in the conference have brought the track back into the public eye, and the hype is still greater than its actual use.
As mentioned above, scientific research is often time-consuming and expensive, and it is difficult to implement it in the short term after receiving funding. The DeSci currency driven by memes is essentially the same as the previous meme coins, both of which are manifestations of the attention economy. For the crypto market that requires immediate returns, there are still great doubts about the sustainability of DeSci.
If the overall track is to have continuity, the following conditions must be met:
- Continuous celebrity endorsement: This round of narrative was initiated by crypto celebrities CZ and Vitalik. If more cryptocurrency celebrities can be attracted to participate, it will help consolidate DeSci's narrative foundation and attract more capital and users.
- Financing activities continue: More financing cases are needed in the future to prove the interest of investment institutions in the DeSci track. Only when institutions enter the market to build a track ecosystem can the overall DeSci fundamentals be consolidated.
- The valuation of leading projects has increased: The current market capitalizations of leading projects VITA and RIF are between US$150 million and US$200 million, which is still lower than the market capitalizations of many leading projects. If the market capitalization of leading projects can be raised to the US$5 billion range and listed on mainstream centralized exchanges, it will drive other projects to rise and confirm that the DeSci track has development potential.
