Best Decentralized Science (DeSci) Projects

Best Decentralized Science (DeSci) Projects

Decentralized Science (DeSci) projects are gaining traction as organizations, influential figures, and individual investors increasingly explore this emerging crypto sector.

Despite a modest combined market cap of $1.3 billion, many traders see DeSci as a highly promising sector with tremendous upside potential in the next two to five years.

Our team dug deep into whitepapers, institutional support, and core fundamentals to bring you this curated list of DeSci projects that truly stand out. See the overview in the table below:

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1. VitaDAO

VitaDAO is the best DeSci projects, redefining decentralized drug development and intellectual property ownership for longevity research. It aims to solve the lack of early-stage funding in biopharma by employing a decentralized governance structure using DAOs and NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.

VitaDAO supports its native VITA token, which grants holders rights to participate in governance, funding, and decision-making regarding the supported projects. Through the VitaLabs initiative, VitaDAO supports high-risk aging research and allows contributors to own part of the intellectual property they create.

VitaDAO's fellowship program also lets scientists to explore novel research ideas, thus driving community-led breakthroughs. A recent success for VitaDAO was its role in the advancement of the VitaRNA/Artan Bio project, achieving several key milestones in gene therapy for aging-related conditions.

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2. ResearchHub Foundation

ResearchHub Foundation, founded by Brian Armstrong and Patrick Joyce in 2019, is one of the earliest adopter of the DeSci movement. It makes scientific research more open by utilizing blockchain to create a collaborative publishing platform for interactive peer reviews and crowd-sourced funding.

The project runs on ResearchCoin (RSC), a utility token used to incentivize contributions like sharing, peer-reviewing, and discussing research. Supported by Tim Ferriss and Lex Fridman, ResearchHub has built a vibrant community focused on accelerating scientific discovery.

Users can earn RSC tokens by sharing research or participating in platform activities, which can be used to support other scientists or influence governance. With a treasury valued at $589 million, ResearchHub has the largest DeSci DAO treasury to promote future scientific breakthroughs.

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3. HairDAO

HairDAO is a DeSci project centered on tackling hair loss, a problem affecting 8 in 10 men and nearly half of all women. Using a decentralized model, HairDAO motivates participants globally to contribute to hair loss research through its HAIR governance token.

The project invites contributors to share their treatment experiences, and supports a range of research initiatives exploring innovative approaches like neurohormone Thyrotropin-releasing Hormone and Twist-1 inhibition. HairDAO also holds the third highest DeSci treasury, at $122.5 million.

The HAIR token enables holders to participate in governance decisions, fund research projects, and gain access to proprietary information. Additionally, the community is categorized into working groups like Research & Development and Software Development to leverage diverse skill sets.

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4. AthenaDAO

AthenaDAO is another hyper-specialized DeSci project, dedicated on advancing women's health and their specific medical needs. It operates through a decentralized network of researchers, funders, and advocates, using blockchain to support early-stage research and biotech startups in women's health.

The primary mission is to fund and incubate transformative research like the ovarian aging study using its on-chain governance model. The ATH token is the core governance utility, enabling holders to vote on funding decisions and actively participate in project direction.

AthenaDAO utilizes IP-Tokens to retain ownership of intellectual property, ensuring contributors benefit from successful commercialization. With a strong tokenomics model and decentralized governance, AthenaDAO is driving a much-needed focus on women-centered health research.

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5. BIO Protocol

‍BIO Protocol is the final DeSci project on our list, highlighted by a recent funding round led by Binance Labs. BIO strives to accelerate biotech innovation by enabling global communities of patients, scientists, and investors to collectively fund and own tokenized biotech projects and intellectual property.

The BIO token plays a key role, offering holders governance rights over the network, early access to BioDAO funding rounds, and financial incentives. BIO Protocol uses a curation model for BioDAOs, allowing token holders to vote on which new BioDAOs join the ecosystem.

It also fully utilizies IP tokens (IPTs) that provide fractional governance rights over the intellectual property generated by BioDAOs. With a focus on liquidity, funding, and decentralized decision-making, BIO is creating a new, efficient financial layer for the scientific community.

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What is Decentralized Science (DeSci)?

Decentralized Science is a trending crypto narrative that takes advantage of blockchain technology to create a more open approach to scientific research. DeSci democratizes the funding, data sharing, and collaboration aspects of science, addressing the inefficiencies of traditional systems.

Key milestones in DeSci include VitaDAO's launch in July 2021, the first onchain science funding with the University of Copenhagen in August 2021, and Pfizer Ventures' $4.1 million investment in VitaDAO in January 2023. In June 2023, the first IP-Token launched from Newcastle University, and HairDAO filed the first DAO scientific patent in December 2023.

In the image below, we provide a full glossary of essential DeSci terms such as IP tokens (IPTs), IP NFTs, DAOs, Intellectual Property (IP), and open-source research data, to help you understand the current state of decentralized science.

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Why is DeSci Trending?

In late 2024, DeSci gained renewed attention due to the support of Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, and Andrew Kang.

In detail, CZ and Vitalik's appearance at a Binance-hosted Decentralized Science meeting served as a major turning point on November 13, 2024, pushing DeSci into the spotlight. Two weeks later on November 25 the top Venture Capitalst, Andrew Kang, stated that DeSci is at the same nascent stage that DeFi was in 2019, with massive potential yet to be realized.

Of course, Brian Armstrong (founder of Coinbase) has been deep in the DeSci trenches since 2019 through his work with ResearchHub. This might be a serious primer for DeSci to be a good-performing sector in 2025, similar to AI projects or RWA and meme coins in 2024.

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Is Decentralized Science a Scam?

Decentralized Science (DeSci) is not a scam. It addresses real issues like limited research funding, restricted access to data, and monopolized scientific knowledge. While some critics dismiss it as another speculative crypto trend, DeSci projects have demonstrated tangible value through community-driven research and transparent IP ownership.

That said, challenges remain. The recent Pump Science breach exposed vulnerabilities when a private wallet key was inadvertently leaked, enabling attackers to create fraudulent tokens like URO and RIF. These actions caused financial losses and damaged trust.

Despite such incidents, DeSci’s potential for transforming scientific collaboration and funding remains strong. To minimize risks, users should verify token origins and prioritize platforms with robust security practices.

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Decentralized Science vs Traditional Science

Decentralized Science fundamentally differs from Traditional Science (TradSci) thanks to the disrupted nature of crypto technology. This improves areas like transparency, collaboration, and community control, all of which are lacking in TradSci right now.

Here are the main differences:

• Funding Mechanisms: DeSci funding is public and distributed via DAOs, while traditional science funding is controlled by centralized institutions.
• Collaboration: DeSci enables global, dynamic collaboration, whereas traditional science limits collaboration to institutions and specific organizations.
• Transparency: DeSci records funding decisions and data openly on the blockchain, while traditional science often lacks transparency in both areas.
• Intellectual Property (IP) Ownership: In DeSci, IP is community-owned with transparent terms, while traditional science assigns IP to institutions, restricting access.
• Publishing Models: DeSci ensures open access via Web3 publishing, whereas traditional science uses closed, often biased peer-reviewed journals.
• Reputation and Incentives: DeSci provides incentives like tokens for contributions, while traditional science rarely rewards peer-review or participation.

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Bottom Line

Competition among leading Decentralized Science projects is set to intensify as new contenders emerge, potentially attracting significant funding in the coming months.

While DeSci isn't entirely new (first introduced in 2018), it has only gained widespread traction since late 2024, largely due to institutional backing and retail interest will most likely remain high.

For now, the five projects we will be keeping a close eye on are VitaDAO, ResearchHub, HairDAO, AthenaDAO, and BIO Protocol.