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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Blockchain
Sec. Blockchain for Science
Volume 8 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fbloc.2025.1524222
Exploring the Decentralized Science Ecosystem: Insights on Organizational Structures, Technologies, and Funding
Provisionally accepted- 1 Universidad de chile, Santiago, Chile
- 2 DeSciWorld, London, United Kingdom
- 3 Molecule, Berlin, Germany
The scientific community is increasingly interested in leveraging decentralized technologies to address systemic challenges such as the reputation economy, the monopolization of academic publishing, and the replication crisis. This study presents an analysis of the Decentralized Science (DeSci) landscape in 2023, focusing on organizational structures, technological foundations, and funding mechanisms of DeSci organizations. A 16-question survey was distributed to DeSci organizations between December 2023 and April 2024, and responses from 49 projects were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results highlight the prominent role of Ethereum as the dominant blockchain platform in DeSci, the varied applications of blockchain in scientific processes, and a significant emphasis on community building and infrastructure development. Funding sources within the ecosystem are moving towards partnerships with more traditional organizations, including academia. However, most projects lack DAO features for governance. It remains uncertain whether they will adopt more DAO-like structures in the future or deploy a different organizational model. Our findings offer a comprehensive overview of the progress and challenges facing the DeSci ecosystem, including slow project progression due to leadership issues and limited funding for most DeSci projects. By identifying key patterns and areas for improvement, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors driving success and sustainability in DeSci.
Keywords: decentralized science, Organizational structures, DAO, Blockchain technology, ecosystem
Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Díaz, Menchaca and Weidener. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Francisco Díaz, Universidad de chile, Santiago, Chile
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