What is DeSci

Decentralized science, or DeSci, is a broad concept that describes projects using blockchain in scientific and semi-scientific fields. In a broad sense, the DeSci direction may include tokens, NFTs and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), one way or another related to science.

DeSci projects typically aim to democratize scientific research and harness the potential of blockchain for new scientific discoveries. This is often done by creating a decentralized platform to raise funds, conduct experiments, share data, and disseminate ideas.

Fundamentally, DeSci is based on the simple idea that scientific knowledge should be accessible to everyone and that the scientific research process should be transparent.

Why is it important

In theory, the Internet was supposed to democratize science, because science is a process of intensive exchange and acquisition of knowledge, that is, information. Therefore, science and information technology must go hand in hand. This is, in principle, what is happening, but this process cannot be called democratic.

Previously, before the Internet, access to scientific knowledge could be obtained at universities, which had been accumulating literature in their libraries for tens, or even hundreds of years. The Internet has made the process easier, but the most cutting-edge research is not freely available. For money - please, but it is very expensive. But in order to obtain the latest scientific literature without disproportionately high financial costs, you need to have access to university resources. Therefore, total democratization did not happen.

This is where DeSci finds its niche. That is, these are projects that try to make science more accessible or solve important key problems based on scientific research. Let's look at the largest DeSci projects by capitalization.

OriginTrail (TRAC)

OriginTrail is an ecosystem that creates a trusted knowledge infrastructure for artificial intelligence. It solves the problem of misinformation in machine learning.

OriginTrail is building a verifiable network for decentralized artificial intelligence. It leverages its unique decentralized knowledge graph and OriginTrail parachain to provide AI-powered solutions.

OriginTrail has received support from many large organizations such as the British Standards Institute, SCAN, Polkadot, Parity, Walmart (NYSE:WMT), the World Federation of Hemophilia, Oracle and even the European Commission.

At the same time, TRAC's market capitalization is still a modest $258 million.

Dynex (DNX)

The project, which uses the POUW (Proof-of-Useful-work) consensus algorithm, uses GPU miners to do the work that is used in super-efficient neuromorphic computing. In fact, such calculations come close to what can be built on the basis of the ability of qubits to superposition, that is, quantum computing.

The project's capitalization is about $60 million, which is not much, however, given the complexity and relevance of the technologies that underlie Dynex, the project may well have a great future.

VitaDAO (VITA)

VitaDAO is a decentralized organization that funds research in the field of aging with the goal of commercializing the resulting intellectual property. VitaDAO specializes in financing innovative and experimental projects that, on the one hand, are quite risky in terms of investment, and on the other, are capable of making a breakthrough in the field of science and bringing in a lot of money from patents.

VitaDAO's capitalization reaches $47.5 million.

Hippocrat HPO

A project for patients to securely store their medical data using blockchain and zero-knowledge proof. Based on this data, you can receive medical advice in the Hippo application.

Project capitalization: $45 million.

AxonDAO (AXGT)

AxonDAO is a decentralized organization for funding medical projects. Like VitaDAO, there are also plans to monetize intellectual property from funded developments.

AxonDAO's capitalization is $35.5 million.

HairDAO (HAIR)

This decentralized organization, as the name suggests, is all about hair. The community funds projects to combat hair loss, on the one hand, bringing closer an effective solution to a problem that is pressing for many, on the other hand, expecting to earn money on patents from funded developments.

This is a good example of how the DeSci market works - the community finds a pressing problem and uses decentralized resources to mobilize funds to solve it, while enriching itself along the way if the research results are protected by intellectual property rights.

HairDAO's capitalization has almost reached $30 million.

Conclusion

Yes, DeSci cannot yet boast of high capitalization. This can be explained by the relative newness of the concept, as well as the fact that DeSci projects offer primarily utility or governance tokens and therefore do not attract the same speculative interest as other assets. That is why they have lower volatility and less liquidity, which complicates the growth of capitalization.

On the other hand, science is a long-term project, so DeSci takes a long time to develop. Scientific breakthroughs do not happen at the snap of a finger; they require a lot of work and resources. Blockchain technologies have created another good source of these resources, which in itself is very valuable.

This material and the information contained herein do not constitute individual or other investment advice.