Our Journey
A Decade of Building the Future of Science
From the first paper in 2016 to today's AI-powered vision — trace how Blockchain for Science pioneered every key concept in DeSci, and how the broader ecosystem grew from our foundations.
"Opening Science" Published
Sönke Bartling and Sascha Friesike edit "Opening Science: The Evolving Guide on How the Internet is Changing Research." Published by Springer Nature, it becomes their most downloaded open access book — laying the intellectual groundwork for what comes next.
Read on SpringerFirst Ideas: Blockchain Meets Science
Sönke Bartling presents early ideas on blockchain for science at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) in Berlin. Together with Martin Etzrodt, they begin exploring how blockchain technology can solve the reproducibility crisis and open up scientific communication.
First Publication on Blockchain for Science
Bartling and Benedikt Fecher publish the seminal paper "Blockchain for Science and Knowledge Creation — A Technical Fix to the Reproducibility Crisis?" on Zenodo. This is widely recognized as the first full-blown academic work connecting blockchain technology to scientific reform.
Read on ZenodoBlockchain for Science Think Tank Founded
Sönke Bartling and Martin Etzrodt formally establish Blockchain for Science as a Berlin-based think tank — years before "DeSci" becomes a buzzword. The mission: "Open up science and knowledge creation by means of the blockchain revolution."
Website Launch & Core Concepts Published
blockchainforscience.com launches with foundational concepts: Smart Evidence, Permanent Open Data, Decentralized Autonomous Academic Endorsement, Research DAO, Tokens for Knowledge Creation, and Living Knowledge Network. These ideas predate and inspire the later DeSci movement.
View 2017 Website (Wayback Machine)Nature Features Blockchain for Science
The prestigious journal Nature publishes a feature asking "Could Bitcoin technology help science?" — bringing mainstream attention to the concepts Bartling and the BFS community have been developing.
Blockchain for Science GmbH Founded
The think tank incorporates as a GmbH in Berlin (HRB 195956), establishing institutional permanence and the ability to organize large-scale events and research initiatives.
View 2018 Website (Wayback Machine)CryptScience 2018 — Vienna/Zürich
The first CryptScience unconference brings together blockchain and science researchers in a format focused on cryptoeconomy for science. 49 speakers present on topics from AI for science to decentralized publishing. Co-organized by Bartling and Etzrodt.
BFSCon 2018 — Berlin (1st International Conference)
The First International Conference on Blockchain for Science, Research and Knowledge Creation is held during Berlin Science Week at nhow Berlin. 120+ attendees from across the globe. A landmark event that defines the field and builds the community that will become DeSci.
View BFSCon 2018 Website (Wayback Machine)STEPS Barcelona — Akasha Hub
Blockchain-backed applications for Science, Technology, Education, Publishing and Society (STEPS) conference at Akasha Hub, Barcelona. Working groups pioneer decentralized science governance concepts.
BFSCon 2019 — Berlin (2nd Conference)
The 2nd International Conference features mature discussions on DAO-based science funding, Ocean Protocol data marketplaces, and cryptoeconomics for research. Less hype, more substance — the ecosystem is maturing.
View BFSCon 2019 Website (Wayback Machine)Aragon DAO Governance for Science
Blockchain for Science develops detailed governance specifications for decentralized science organizations using Aragon. Research DAOs move from concept to implementation.
Ecosystem: First DeSci Projects Emerge
Molecule is founded by Paul Kohlhaas to tokenize biotech IP. EncrypGen explores genomic data on blockchain. The seeds planted by the Blockchain for Science community begin sprouting across the wider ecosystem.
"DeSci" Term Coined & Ecosystem Explodes
The term "DeSci" (Decentralized Science) gains mainstream crypto attention. VitaDAO launches for longevity research funding with backing from Vitalik Buterin and later Pfizer Ventures. ResearchHub (Brian Armstrong / Coinbase) and DeSci Labs emerge. The movement BFS pioneered goes mainstream.
DeSci on Ethereum.orgBFS Mini Conference 2021
The 3rd Blockchain for Science mini conference maintains community connections through the COVID era, keeping the original vision alive while the broader DeSci ecosystem builds momentum.
DeSci Berlin — "Lessons Learned"
Bartling presents "Lessons Learned from Earlier Revolutions" at DeSci Berlin, connecting the dots between the original Blockchain for Science vision and the now-booming DeSci movement. A reminder of who built the foundations.
DeSciCommons Initiative Launched
Bartling and Etzrodt launch DeSciCommons — evolving from Blockchain for Science into a standards body for decentralized science. The mission: define how DeSci should actually work, with guidelines and best practices to prevent the ecosystem from losing its way.
DeSci Ecosystem: Hype Meets Reality
The DeSci ecosystem faces a reckoning. Token speculation leads to 90%+ crashes. Some BioDAOs marketed tokens without meaningful research funding. The need for the standards and principles BFS has always advocated becomes undeniable.
The Return: AI + Blockchain for Science
Blockchain for Science re-enters the arena with a powerful new thesis: the convergence of AI and blockchain will finally deliver on the promise of truly open, reproducible, and fairly funded science. Ten years of experience meets cutting-edge technology. The disruption continues.
Key Publications
The Research Behind the Revolution
From the foundational “Opening Science” book to the first blockchain-for-science paper, our work provided the intellectual framework for the entire DeSci movement.
Opening Science: The Evolving Guide on How the Internet is Changing Research, Collaboration and Scholarly Publishing
Sönke Bartling, Sascha Friesike (Editors) · Springer Nature
Most downloaded open access book on Springer Nature
Blockchain for Science and Knowledge Creation — A Technical Fix to the Reproducibility Crisis?
Sönke Bartling, Benedikt Fecher · Zenodo
The first full academic paper connecting blockchain to science reform
Blockchain for Research: Perspectives on a New Paradigm for Scholarly Communication
Sönke Bartling · Academic Publication
Expanded framework for blockchain-based scholarly communication
Unchaining Collective Intelligence for Science, Research and Technology Development by Blockchain-Boosted Community Participation
Martin Etzrodt et al. · ResearchGate
How blockchain mechanisms like staking and prediction markets can reorganize science