DeSci Compared to 2019’s DeFi Market by Expert

Protocols in the DeSci space are experiencing a phase akin to the DeFi sector in 2019, according to Andrew Kang, founder of venture firm Mechanism Capital.

The DeSci space right now feels like the early 2019 DeFi days. Everything is still raw, experimental, but there’s an underlying understanding from this involved that there is massive potential.

It’s likely that the current projects won’t have the same model/product as they will…

— Andrew Kang (@Rewkang) November 24, 2024

“Everything is still raw, experimental, but there’s an understanding that [in DeSci] there is massive potential,” he noted.

Kang believes that future DeSci protocols will not employ the same models and products as today, but this is the essence of iterative development:

“This happened with Maker, Synthetix, and Aave, which were clumsy and small in 2019 but became major protocols.”

At that time, the DeFi industry, much like DeSci now, was in its early stages. The potential of decentralized finance began to unfold by 2020: the number of users, projects, and the volume of value locked in smart contracts grew exponentially compared to 2019.

Among projects in the decentralized science sector, the founder of Mechanism Capital highlighted three of the most interesting:

• BIO Protocol with a platform for managing and funding research through DAOs and tokenization;
• Pump Science, where tokens tied to experimental life-extension drugs are sold;
• GLP1, which raises funds for research on the GLP-1 hormone, a regulator of hunger and digestion in the human body.

DeSci projects, akin to the DePIN sector, utilize blockchain tools to organize citizen science—collaborative research involving the general public, including those without formal academic training.

In 2023, Vitalik Buterin described DeSci as a set of ideas addressing the question: “how decentralized technologies can improve science.”

According to CoinGecko, the current capitalization of the DeSci industry is approximately $1.2 billion. The platform tracks 33 projects, the largest of which are OriginTrail, VitaDao, and Rifampicin.

In November, Vitalik Buterin and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao attended a gathering of DeSci entrepreneurs in Thailand.