Funding Science with Science: Cryptocurrency and Independent Academic Research Funding

Abstract

Abstract. Scientific funding within the academy is an often complicated affair involving disparate and competing interests. Private universities, for instance, are vastly outpacing public institutions in garnering large, prestigious, science-related grants and external research investment. Inequities also extend to the types of research funded, with government, corporate, and even military interests privileging certain types of inquiry. This article proposes an innovative type of science research fund using cryptocurrencies, a fastgrowing asset class. Although not a total funding solution, staking coins, specifically, can be strategically invested in to yield compound interest. These coins use masternode technologies to collateralize the network and speed transaction pace and may pay dividends to masternode holders, allowing institutions that purchase these types of central hubs to potentially engage in a lucrative form of dividend reinvestment. Using cryptocurrencies as a new funding stream may garner large amounts of capital and creation of nonprofit institutes to support the future of funding scientific research within educational institutions.

Crypto access: Is it possible to use cryptocurrencies in scholarly periodicals?

“…molecule.to/) (Lehner, Hunzeker, & Ziegler, 2017). • Intellectual property rights management (Van Rossum, 2017), (IPCHAIN, https://ipchain.global/association/).…”

“…A group of enthusiasts from different fields (universities, scientific institutions, IT companies, lawyers) created a hub for the discussion of blockchain application in science (http://blockchainforscience.com). Many projects have already been partially applying blockchain to address the following issues: Fundraising for research purposes (Molecule, www.catalyst.molecule.to/) (Lehner, Hunzeker, & Ziegler, 2017). Intellectual property rights management (Van Rossum, 2017), (IPCHAIN, https://ipchain.global/association/). Immutability and authenticity check for scientific publications (Ramachandran & Kantarcioglu, 2017; 2019).…”