DeSci: How do on-chain memes challenge the existing scientific system?

Author: Ac-Core, researcher at YBB Capital

Key Points

• The rise of DeSci (Decentralized Science) is largely due to Binance Labs' investment in BIO Protocol, CZ's new direction statement for biotechnology, and CZ's discussion with Vitalik about DeSci. A16z led the investment in the DeSci project AmionChain.

• Compared with other Meme-driven fields such as zoos, artificial intelligence, and art, DeSci requires stronger narrative and personality support. It also has great potential to enter a wider circle.

• From a practical perspective, DeSci's current economic scale is not enough to sustain research funding. DeSci is still in the early stages of the "market dream rate", and hype-driven speculation is essential.

1. Background

1.1 What is DeSci?

A more official explanation: DeSci (Decentralized Science) aims to use Web3 technology to build a public infrastructure for scientific research in a fair and just manner, focusing on solving problems such as peer review, scientific research funding, IP management, data transparency, and audit mechanisms.

A simpler explanation is that DeSci brings pure speculation in the crypto world into the field of zero-speculation scientific research. However, DeSci is not a new concept that has only emerged this year. VitaDAO, which focuses on funding and promoting early longevity research, was established as early as 2021 and even received investment from Pfizer, a world-renowned pharmaceutical company. However, DeSci has always been a slow-heating field. It was not until recently that Binance Labs announced its investment in BIO Protocol, and CZ and Vitalik discussed DeSci, that this field returned to the public eye.

1.2 The Birth of a Trend

1. Binance Labs Exclusively Invests in BIO Protocol:

BIO Protocol can be seen as a crowdfunding platform for scientific projects, raising funds through token sales, which are then used to support and advance biotechnology projects. Intellectual property is represented by Molecule Protocol's IPT (Intellectual Property Token) and shared by participants.

BioDAO uses intellectual property and product sales revenue to supplement BioDAO's funds to fund future research and development projects. Binance Labs describes BIO as the "Y Combinator of on-chain science." Currently, the top 100 startups in Y Combinator have a valuation or market value of more than $100 billion, including companies such as Airbnb, Coinbase, Stripe, and Reddit.

2. CZ's new focus on biotechnology and discussion with Vitalik on DeSci:

During Binance Dubai Blockchain Week 2024, Zhao Changpeng said in his first speech after the press conference, "Right now I am focusing on two things: Giga Academy and investment. My investments are mainly concentrated in blockchain, artificial intelligence and biotechnology." Zhao Changpeng then attended Binance's DeSci Day event in Bangkok and discussed DeSci with Vitalik, which attracted great attention from the market and caused the prices of tokens of various DeSci projects to rise sharply.

3. A16z leads the investment in DeSci project AmionChain:

Recently, AmionChain announced that it has received a $5 million seed round of financing led by A16z, including previous investments from Cercano and other private equity funds, and AmionChain's total financing has reached $7.8 million. AmionChain's vision is to build a decentralized "biobank" on Layer 2 where researchers can easily find and access samples, while patients retain control and are compensated for the use of their data.

Source: X(@BinanceLabs)

2. The real need and real use cases of DeSci

2.1 The reality of DeSci: Funding needs for scientific research

According to a 2024 report by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), U.S. scientific research spending is expected to reach $710 billion in 2023. In 2022, R&D spending will approach $7 trillion, with the majority coming from private sector investment, especially in areas such as information technology and pharmaceuticals, which account for about 78% of total R&D spending.

In 2021, in addition to the United States and China, the countries with the highest R&D spending are Japan ($177 billion), Germany ($154 billion), and South Korea ($120 billion). In 2021, the United States will spend 3.5% of GDP on R&D, while Israel and South Korea have R&D intensities of more than 4%, Taiwan, Japan, and Germany between 3% and 4%, and the United Kingdom and China more than 2%. In 2022, the United States ranks second in R&D spending in higher education, second only to commercial enterprises. Funding for life science research is the highest of all science and engineering fields, reaching $42 billion (44% of the total), mainly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (data can be found in the extended link).

Source: See Extended Link 1

In 2023, China's R&D expenditure exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan (about 458.5 billion US dollars), an increase of 8.1% year-on-year. Among them, basic research investment was 221.2 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3%. Compared with previous years, China has maintained a relatively high growth rate, especially in the fields of high-tech and basic research, reflecting the strong driving force of the "science and technology power" strategy (data see Extended Link 2).

Comparison of scientific research funding growth: China's R&D expenditure has grown rapidly, especially in the field of basic research, reflecting China's investment in technological innovation and high-end science. Although the United States has invested more in absolute terms, its growth rate is more stable, focusing on long-term technological progress in areas with sustained advantages.

From the actual application of DeSci, it is still in the "Meme" narrative stage and has not yet directly promoted technological progress. Whether it is donation-driven empathy or market liquidity caused by speculative trading, the current economic scale is not enough to support the huge funds required for scientific research. Therefore, DeSci is still in the early stages of "market dream rate". In the future, if DeSci wants to really take off, it needs to meet regulatory requirements and obtain continued support from the big guys.

2.2 Real academic financial cases of DeSci? South Korea's LK-99 room temperature superconductivity incident

Image source: Taj Quantum — Taj Quantum official website in the United States

2023 is called the "Year of Room Temperature Superconductivity" mainly because a number of studies have claimed to have discovered room temperature superconducting materials, which has attracted widespread attention from the global scientific community. However, as the research deepened, these discoveries were found to have major problems and even caused academic scandals.

The cause of the incident was that Ranga Diaz, a physicist at the University of Rochester, published a paper in the journal Nature, claiming to have discovered a material that can achieve superconductivity at room temperature. The discovery was initially hailed as a groundbreaking achievement, as the emergence of room-temperature superconductors could revolutionize energy transmission, medical devices, and electronics. Superconductors typically require extremely low temperatures (below -196°C), so room-temperature superconductors have long been a goal of the scientific community. However, Diaz's research faced huge doubts from the beginning, especially considering that his academic reputation was already questioned in 2020 for similar research.

In 2020, Diaz received widespread attention for a paper on room-temperature superconductivity, but the paper was retracted by Nature two years later. Despite this, Diaz published a similar research paper in 2023, which rekindled people's interest. However, many of his peers accused him of tampering with data and even plagiarizing content from his doctoral thesis. Several well-known media, including The Wall Street Journal and Science magazine, launched investigations and exposed problems with his research. The University of Rochester also launched multiple internal investigations, which ultimately confirmed that Diaz's paper had "data reliability issues", resulting in his removal from his supervisory responsibilities for the laboratory and students. In November 2023, Nature officially retracted Diaz's latest paper on room-temperature superconductivity.

The full picture of the scandal began to surface. According to an investigation by the Nature news team, Diaz's team members did not observe the key superconducting phenomenon "Meissner effect" in the experiment, but were asked to submit the first draft of the paper to Diaz quickly. Many graduate students had doubts about some of the data in the paper, but under the authority and pressure of the professor, they did not publicly question these issues. As more and more reviewers and experts began to carefully review the experimental data, they found that the data was likely manipulated.

Although Diaz's first paper was severely criticized, he claimed to have discovered room-temperature superconductivity in another material, a compound of lutetium and hydrogen (LuH). However, the measurement data of this study was also full of problems, and many students pointed out that there were systematic errors in the experiment. Some even felt that they were "deceiving themselves." Despite the increasing criticism, Diaz continued to publish the paper, but 8 of the 11 co-authors eventually asked to withdraw the paper.

This series of academic scandals has not only seriously damaged Diaz's reputation, but also affected the entire scientific community. The career prospects of many young scientists have become uncertain due to their participation in these studies, and the trust of the academic community has also been damaged. Paul Canfield, a physicist at Iowa State University, commented: "This scandal has damaged the careers of young scientists, especially those in the field of superconductivity."

At the same time, another heavyweight in the field of room-temperature superconductivity, the LK-99 team from South Korea, has also been caught up in a similar controversy. Although they claim to have discovered a new "room-temperature superconductor" - PCPOSOS in 2024, many people in the scientific community have expressed doubts about the authenticity of their research. The data presented by the team at the academic conference were similar to previous LK-99 research and lacked sufficient verification.

Image source: Bloomberg

After the announcement of the superconducting technology breakthrough, some Korean stocks related to superconductivity attracted a large number of investors. Shares of small Korean companies such as Duksung Co. and Sunam Co. rose by 30% for three consecutive days. Sunam Co. has soared about 260% in the past six trading days, while Duksung Co. has risen by 170%. Mobiis Co. rose 30% on Thursday, and Shinsung Delta Tech Co. rose 21% at one point, setting a record high.

Subsequently, the Verification Committee of the Korean Society of Superconductors stated in an investigation that LK-99 did not show the Meissner effect and could not prove that it was a superconductor. This news caused fluctuations in the share prices of Chinese superconducting stocks, and the share prices of Farson and Zhongfu Industrial fell sharply. The former does not involve superconducting technology, and the latter only provides space and equipment support. At the same time, the share price of American Superconductor fell 29%, and Sumitomo Electric also fell due to poor profitability.

3. Overview of the DeSci Ecosystem

3.1 BIO Protocol

The BIO Protocol, which has received investment from Binance Labs, is known as the "Y Combinator of on-chain science." It is designed for incubation of early-stage companies, providing funds and resources to accelerate project development. According to TechFlow, the main components of the BIO Protocol include BioDAO, curation system, liquidity and IP conversion, and incentive mechanisms.

Image source: TechFlow — BIO Protocol — BioDAO

$VITA (VitaDAO): Founded in 2021, VitaDAO focuses on funding and promoting early-stage longevity research aimed at extending human healthy lifespan. It is managed by $VITA token holders.

$RSC (ResearchCoin): Used to reward users for their contributions on the ResearchHub platform. The goal is to accelerate scientific research by incentivizing community contributions. Anyone can earn $RSC by sharing, curating, and discussing academic science on ResearchHub.

$ATH (AthenaDAO): AthenaDAO is a decentralized community of researchers, funders, and advocates dedicated to advancing women’s health research, education, and funding.

$GROW (ValleyDAO): A decentralized organization focused on anti-aging drugs and longevity projects.

3.2 Pump.Science

The Solana-based DeSci platform Molecule DAO launched the meme token platform Pump.science at the Solana Breakpoint 2024 conference. Pump.science will issue meme tokens representing drugs on Pump.fun. Some of its concept tokens include:

$RIF (Rifampicin): Rifampicin is an antibiotic that has attracted much attention for its surprising effects on aging. In model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode commonly used in aging research, rifampicin has been shown to activate cells’ natural defense mechanisms to fight stress and damage. It acts like a "cell coach," protecting cells from harmful oxidative stress and maintaining protein quality, encouraging cells to stay healthy and resilient. These protective effects help the worms live longer and healthier.

$URO (Urolithin A): Urolithin A is a compound produced by the human body after eating foods rich in ellagitannins, such as pomegranates. It plays a special role in helping the body do "spring cleaning" at the cellular level. Urolithin A helps clear out old, dysfunctional mitochondria (the cell's energy factories) and promotes the growth of new, healthy mitochondria in a process called mitophagy. Studies have shown that it can extend the lifespan of C. elegans by making cells more efficient and energetic.

3.3 Donation Idea

$Scihub: An unofficial token donated by @0xAA_Science to support an open source research paper website. The token is derived from the Sci-Hub shadow library concept, a community meme token. Sci-Hub is a non-profit, non-governmental platform that provides free access to academic papers. In addition to resources such as Google Scholar, Sci-Hub, LibGen and PubMed, it also integrates a range of other open academic resources from Chinese and English sources, allowing one-stop downloads of academic articles, patents, books, etc.

3.4 DeSci Quantum Meme

$ANTI — Anti-Token and $PRO — Original Token: A pair of tokens that express opposing views on the meme token. The token was created by algorithm engineer and mathematical physics expert @sshmatrix_ and is designed so that 1 $ANTI and 1 $PRO rise and fall together.

4. How long can the elixir on the blockchain last?

DeSci is not a new concept this year, and its sudden popularity can be attributed to three key factors: Binance's investment in BIO Protocol, CZ and Vitalik's joint discussion of DeSci, and a16z leading a round of financing for the DeSci project AmionChain. The market also needs a "pump is justice" mentality to drive this process. Despite the current market situation, DeSci is still largely driven by memes, but its basic properties set it apart from other meme-driven narratives.

• Difference from other memes: Unlike memes in other fields such as AI, zoos, or art, DeSci needs a strong and influential figure to "promote the product". It may not be able to sustain itself through internal community influence alone, and needs outstanding figures from the field of "scientific research" to help promote its narrative.

• The valuation of the top projects needs to be improved: At present, there is no top project with a market value of $1 billion in the DeSci field. Compared with other meme fields, DeSci still has great market potential. Major centralized exchanges have not yet launched DeSci-related tokens, and large-scale funds have not yet appeared in the primary market.

• DeSci may have greater potential to break through the niche market: Although the PVP market is highly competitive, if well-known figures with "scientific" backgrounds outside the current circle use DeSci's narrative to raise funds or donate, it may gain more attention. Similar to the purchase of rare versions of the US Constitution through $PEOPLE crowdfunding, the $DOGE moon trip with Elon Musk, and the auction of Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" at Christie's auction house for $69 million, DeSci has a similar core logic. Its marketing potential is comparable to Jia Yueting's attempt to use PPT plans to launch cars in the crypto field.