DeSci: Is MEME a new trend or an "elixir of immortality" on-chain?

In the past two weeks, DeSci (decentralized science) has become one of the hottest sectors in the crypto market. With a well-known exchange investing in BIO Protocol, along with endorsements from two industry figures, this once-silent concept has sparked a resurgence. A large amount of capital has flooded in, leading to skyrocketing prices for some project tokens, even reaching thousandfold returns, while also giving rise to a new potential MEME sector.

DeSci aims to utilize Web3 technology to build public infrastructure for the open and equitable funding, storage, and dissemination of scientific knowledge. It encourages researchers to openly share their findings and gain recognition, while allowing anyone to easily access and contribute to research results. In short, DeSci is dedicated to using blockchain technology to address challenges in research, covering multiple aspects such as fundraising, knowledge sharing, peer review, and intellectual property.

Currently, DeSci mainly focuses on fundraising. Most projects finance research projects through tokenization and encourage putting research results on-chain to enhance transparency and protect intellectual property. The core role of DeSci is to open up new funding channels for scientific research that requires long-term investment. By connecting the seemingly unrelated fields of cryptocurrency and scientific research, tokenization gains more practical significance, which is why it is highly regarded by the market as one of the typical cases of MEME practical application.

The main driving force behind the current DeSci craze comes from the celebrity effect. On November 8, a well-known exchange announced the completion of strategic financing for BIO Protocol, bringing this project, known as "on-chain science version of Y Combinator," into the spotlight. Subsequently, two heavyweight figures in the industry discussed DeSci together at the DeSci Day event held in Bangkok, further boosting the popularity of this concept.

The crypto market has rapidly sparked a DeSci craze, with the Pump.Science project becoming an instant hit. The token prices of projects like RIF and URO have surged, drawing significant attention to the entire sector. A partner at a well-known investment firm even stated, "The current feeling in the DeSci space is akin to the early DeFi days of 2019. Everything is still very primitive and experimental, but one can draw a basic conclusion: it has tremendous potential." In this atmosphere, even in the recent significant market correction, the DeSci sector still rose by 3.35% against the trend.

Although the vision of DeSci is inspiring and undoubtedly valuable in opening new funding channels for scientific research, at present, the hype component is clearly greater than the actual utility. Essentially, there is a clear contradiction between the long-term nature of scientific research and the short-term profit-seeking nature of the MEME field, making it seem somewhat unrealistic to balance the zero speculation research field with the purely speculative MEME track.

Scientific research is characterized by high uncertainty, as drug development often takes over a decade, and a wrong direction can lead to total failure. This field is marked by high investment and high risk, requiring sustainable long-term investment. This is also why research funding typically adopts a model led by the state and large enterprises, combining national capital and social capital to disperse risk and maintain competitiveness. However, in the crypto market, attention is the core, and trends are difficult to sustain. Currently, the hot money surrounding DeSci is mainly focused on the meme coin issuance platform Pump.Science for scientific research projects, reflecting the market's attention to the profit-making effect.

In fact, conceptually, DeSci is somewhat similar to putting old wine in a new bottle. Looking back in history, VitaDAO, initiated in July 2021, is one of the earliest and most representative DeSci projects, but its development has not been as grand as the concept describes.

VitaDAO is a community-owned project dedicated to funding early longevity research, aiming to drive scientific innovation through the collective power of the community, researching and supporting projects that extend human lifespan and prevent age-related diseases. In simple terms, VitaDAO is a DAO community focused on longevity research.

Previously, VitaDAO briefly sparked heated discussions due to a strategic investment from a well-known pharmaceutical company, but soon fell silent. Currently, VitaDAO is widely expanding its layout, having deployed $4.2 million in funding to support 24 projects, and has also engaged in research collaborations with several prestigious universities. However, compared to its actions, the actual results appear limited. Since 2021, it wasn't until the recent Devcon conference that VitaDAO finally showcased its first product, VD001.

On the other hand, although putting research results on-chain can enhance transparency and protect intellectual property, facilitating the dissemination of scientific knowledge, it is almost a structural disruption in the relatively closed field of scientific research. Under the current research system, most research teams maintain a high level of confidentiality regarding research results and experimental data during the research process to prevent unauthorized individuals from stealing, utilizing, or leaking them. This confidentiality is especially crucial when deep interests are involved. With the strong intervention of decentralization, the security of data is naturally difficult to guarantee.

Considering these factors, it is foreseeable that, apart from superficial applications in scientific research content, review fairness, and data tokenization, only those topics that are extremely difficult to achieve, time-consuming, and require high levels of collaboration can truly fit the crypto model. From this round of enthusiasm, most DeSci projects are targeting a core issue of common concern for humanity—longevity, which has also led the market to jokingly refer to DeSci as the on-chain elixir of immortality.

Immortality is ultimately just a beautiful vision, and the market's attention on DeSci is mainly due to the liquidity it brings. Although a community fundraising event initiated by a certain project raised $33 million, and the DeSci sector has surged significantly in the past two weeks, activity in the primary market remains limited, and large institutions have not yet participated. From the perspective of leading projects, the attention in the secondary market is also mediocre, with the market capitalization of VITA and RIF ranging between $120 million and $200 million, far from the $1 billion market caps of other sector leaders.

However, if we exclude the long-term perspective, DeSci is relatively good in the MEME space. Compared to other MEMEs, DeSci has a stronger narrative. Although the celebrity effect is difficult to sustain, there is a fundamental effect due to the support of actual research projects; any scientific innovation and product development will enhance the narrative strength. The biomedical sector generally holds an open attitude towards fundraising, and the emerging nature of this field makes it more likely to connect with the crypto space. In addition, DeSci has the potential for a breakout effect, as the current celebrity effect in this sector is mainly concentrated within the crypto circle, while celebrities from the traditional medical and research fields have not yet entered, and large institutions have not yet emerged, providing direction for subsequent narratives.

From a macro market perspective, whether it's zoos or artists, AI-driven or research-validated, MEME has become the main bearer of market funds. However, the former recipients of this round of massive wealth were still altcoins. Looking solely at the altcoin market, Bitcoin has risen from $10,000 to the edge of $100,000, while the upward effect of Ethereum has noticeably weakened, and most altcoins have declined in performance, with only SOL and XRP among the top ten crypto assets seeing an increase. The once frequent tenfold growth of altcoin seasons seems difficult to replicate.

From a core perspective, changes in the flow of funds are key. In traditional bull market transmission, the common path is to gradually flow from high stability assets to low stability assets, activating high yield preferences from low yield sources, namely mainstream coins - altcoins - MEME coins - other sectors. However, this year, this path is not as it has been in the past. Currently, with the entry of institutions and the saturation of project numbers, large new external liquidity will only flow into the Bitcoin ecosystem. The public chain ecosystem lacks strong applications emerging, and altcoins are deeply trapped in a supply-demand structural crisis. Bitcoin has become the siphon of ecological funds, and funds from other sectors have also been siphoned over, with only the quick in-and-out, wealth effect concentrated MEME standing out, thus the altcoin season has turned into MEME season.

A typical example is that a certain MEME project has already become the biggest winner of the bull market. According to data, as of November 24, the project has accumulated nearly $230 million in revenue, with a total deployed token count of approximately 3.74 million.

Of course, the two are not substitutes; the rise of MEME does not necessarily mean the collapse of altcoins. With regulatory easing and sector rotation, altcoins may still have the chance to turn the tide. However, the enhancement of MEME's market position undoubtedly reflects a structural change in the market. In fact, whether it's MEME live streaming, short video calls, or AI-driven initiatives, the crypto market is experiencing profound changes in narrative logic, communication models, and operational methods, driven by the entry of Generation Z and the rapid evolution of new technologies.

Traditional altcoin projects find it difficult to sustain their narrative of long-term profit through token releases, and the market is no longer willing to pay for VC tokens. Instead, it is shifting towards a direction that is fairer, more autonomous, and closer to the core of the tokens, with attention becoming increasingly scarce. From this perspective, the combination of MEME and projects seems to be more competitive than a single project. Altcoin operators may have an advantage, while MEME is relatively fair. MEME lacks long-term viability, but projects provide fundamental value, which creates a strong alignment between the two. This might also be one of the reasons for the rise of concepts like AIMEME and DeSci at this time.

However, the formation of consensus is highly random, and MEME gold mines are extremely rare. According to the data, as of November 21, a certain MEME platform has issued a total of 3.59 million tokens, a quantity that far exceeds the total token issuance in the cryptocurrency world over the past 10 years. Among them, the number of tokens successfully listed on exchanges is 50,389, accounting for about 1.4%. The number of tokens with a market value of over 100 million USD is only 32, and less than one ten-thousandth of the MEME market value can exceed 10 million USD.

In the long term, finding a balance of consensus between attention and longevity will become an important topic for the development of MEME, but for individuals, surviving and not going to zero is the premise of everything.