DeSciWorld Whitepaper
DeSciWorld Whitepaper
DeSciWorld Whitepaper
1. Introduction 1
4. $DSCI Token 9
LEGAL DISCLOSURE: 9
4.1 Token Issuance 10
4.2 DAO-Owned Liquidity 10
4.3 Potential Token Utilities 10
4.3.1 $veDSCI 10
4.3.1.2 $veDSCI Mechanics 11
4.3.2 Revenue Sharing 11
4.3.3 Discount on in-app Purchases 11
4.3 Tokenomics 11
4.4 Layer-2 Deployment 12
7. Treasury 17
7.1 Funding 17
7.1.1 Revenue Stream 17
DeSci Dashboard 18
NFT Spotlight 18
P2P Research Funding 18
Community as a Service (CaaS) 19
7.1.2 Ecosystem Grants 19
7.1.3 DeSciWorld DAO Token Holdings 19
7.1.4 Supporters Round 20
7.2 Security 20
7.2.1 Treasury Team Requirements 20
7.2.2 Gnosis Safe 20
LEGAL DISCLOSURE 20
1. Introduction
DeSciWorld is a community-driven initiative aiming to facilitate the on-boarding of people
into the decentralized science (DeSci) space. By providing a suite of products and services
that engage and empower would be DeScientists, we will support a second renaissance of
science that is inclusive to all, including those peoples and ideas previously left “on the
outside” due to economic, social or cultural barriers within academia.
No one has managerial control over DeSciWorld nor provides essential managerial efforts
that affect its success as the DeSciWorld ecosystem has a fully decentralized structure.
Even so, the current DeSci community is nascent and still disorganized. DeSciWorld aims to
address this by becoming a starting point from which everyone should be able to dive into
the DeSci space, a resource-oriented focal point for the DeSci community.
The DeSciWorld Dashboard is a free-to-use online information hub that aggregates and
displays information about DeSci projects in an easily digestible format. We aim for it to
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become a primary resource for learning about all that DeSci has to offer. It allows
researchers/academics/VCs/non-scientists to obtain information about all DeSci-relevant
projects. Scientists / DeSciDAOs / other people related to DeSci can also expand outreach
for their work, grow networks, access resources from a huge and growing community and
even apply for funding.
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3.1.2 Individual project pages
Project pages display relevant information about individual DeSci projects, such as
information about tokens and governance proposals, media embeds, short descriptions
and relevant links. These pages allow users to get a quick overview of a project before fully
diving into their community.
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3.2 NFT Spotlight
The NFT Spotlight features projects that utilize NFTs to combine art and science in a
biweekly cadence. DeSciWorld enables users to mint, view and share these exclusive
project launches. We aim to feature impactful projects that best represent the DeSci space.
3.2.2 Spotlight
In addition to technical assistance, we provide outreach for impactful projects. During the
biweekly period that the project is featured as DeSciWorld’s NFT Spotlight, the sale will
appear on the desci.world landing page and the cover of the NFT Products section. During
the duration of the project spotlight, the project team will receive exclusive rights to the
# 💎¦spotlight channel on DeSciWorld Discord, and DeSciWorld will collaborate to
organize AMAs and other signal boosting events.
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3.2.3 Community construction
We aim to help new and developing projects build a strong and thriving community for
their launch. As a continued service beyond the Spotlight period, collaborators will be
granted ongoing access to highlighted channels in our discord and twitter lists for future
announcements and referrals between our communities.
As a P2P marketplace, this platform facilitates trade between two or more private
individuals. The decentralized transaction infrastructure of Web3 and blockchain allows
researchers and funders to connect without the need for a centralized mediator. The
DeSciWorld marketplace is trustless and transparent.
All users must sign up to the platform using either a public or anonymous profile; this
profile receives reputation points based on a number of factors, still to be defined. This
reputation, combined with smart contract-enabled escrow, allows our users to interact
confidently with each other independent of trust.
The CaaS infrastructure is a core value proposition for the DeSciWorld ecosystem. In this
worked example, we assume payment in $USDC (this could be any token payment in
theory, including the $DSCI token). The CaaS model is described below:
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3.4.1 Contributor Registration
Those that wish to contribute to the CaaS model must first be registered to the DeSciWorld
CaaS portal. The registered profile will be linked to a Web3 Wallet. Registrations can be
either anonymous or non-anonymous; the Contributor must choose this. Registration will
entail provision of certain information such as “academic background”, “location”, “field
work capable” etc. The registered profile, along with submitted information, will be
available for viewing by the Client and Community Working Groups to allow for scheduling
and matching to required services.
Once a Client has had their request reviewed and accepted by the Community Working
Group, they will be invited to stake and lock the required payment in $USDC tokens. This is
held in escrow until the task is completed by the Working Group. Upon completion of the
task, the Client is required to release the escrow to the Working Group so that payments
can be distributed.
At the point of payment release outlined in Section 3.4.2, if a Client is dissatisfied with the
service they have received, they are entitled to enter into an Arbitration process with
DeSciWorld DAO. The result of the Arbitration process will determine whether the CaaS
payment is returned partially or in full to the Client, or if it is released to the Working Group
to be distributed amongst the Contributors.
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publishing, peer reviewing, data storage and research outsourced to DeSciWorld by
institutions and universities.
Whilst created outside of the DeSciWorld DAO’s jurisdiction, Microbes sales have been used
by the Founding Team to fund operations in the bootstrapping phase of DeSciWorld’s
growth. Thus, Microbes NFT holders are currently qualified to receive the following
privileges:
- Redistribution lottery events: DeSciWorld intends to accumulate digital assets from the
DeSci and greater Web3 ecosystem for periodical redistribution to Microbes holders via
lottery-style raffles.
- NFT Launchpad preferential access: Microbe NFT holders are rewarded with privileges on
our NFT Launchpad platform such as potential presale positions and gallery curator
decisions.
- Unlockable content: Certain Microbes NFTs contain unlockable content such as additional
research data, reports, and even raw image files. The content is hosted on IPFS and made
available through our website, secured through Web3 wallet integration. This unlockable
content serves to enhance the artistic value of the Microbes NFTs.
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- Access to special events/areas: VIP chat, special events at DeSci conferences, an airdrop, or
merch distribution, the Microbes NFT will serve as the universal access pass.
Early Adopter roles belong to the specific wallet addresses that mint Microbes and may
receive additional benefits such as preferential access to initiatives to be confirmed by the
DeSciWorld DAO.
4. $DSCI Token
LEGAL DISCLOSURE
The discussion herein (Section 4) is purely descriptive, not prescriptive, and does not represent a
predetermined decision for the release of the $DSCI token. All decisions pertaining to the launch
and release of the $DSCI token are to be carried out by the DeSciWorld pre-DAO, as discussed in
Section 5.4. The following information is subject to change as new ideas or tooling becomes
available closer to the launch. The planned time of launch is towards the end of 2022.
Despite the intentionally small initial market capitalization, we cannot predict whether the $DSCI
token will retain its monetary value in the future. $DSCI token may lose its value if it does not
receive adoption. At the same time, $DSCI token value may arise because of the network effect,
as more people believe in its intrinsic value and utility.
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No one has managerial control over $DSCI nor provides essential managerial efforts that affect
its success as the DeSciWorld ecosystem has a fully decentralized structure.
Special thanks to Spool DAO for their inspiration with tokenomics and Pre-DAO structure.
No $DSCI tokens will ever be premined or retained by the project developers. $DSCI
has a predetermined finite supply and no more additional $DSCI tokens will ever be
minted.
4.3.1 $veDSCI
The $DSCI token could be staked to earn $veDSCI. The $veDSCI token is a model that
incentivises long-term ecosystem participants by emitting on a linear scale over 3 years,
which resets upon unstaking. $veDSCI is used to govern the DeSciWorld DAO, as outlined in
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Section 6, meaning that only those who stake $DSCI have governance power. This ensures
that those with the longest term commitment have the most say in protocol governance.
Staking additional $DSCI Tokens increases the $veDSCI received in the next epoch after
staking and does not reset the $veDSCI counter. A user is free to stake additional $DSCI
tokens whenever they desire.
Users are free to withdraw their $DSCI stake at any given point in time, however,
withdrawing any amount of staked $DSCI will reset the accumulated amount of $veDSCI
back to zero.
4.3 Tokenomics
$DSCI - An ERC-20 token with 2 decimals; no transfer penalties. $DSCI could potentially be
staked to earn shares of protocol fees and $veDSCI emissions, under proposed models.
Total supply TBC.
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$preSCI - A valueless token that represents the holder’s membership to the pre-DAO and is
used solely to vote on preDAO proposals.
$pre-veSCI - A token identical in form and function to $veDSCI, except given immediately
upon $DSCI genesis to holders of $preSCI. More details found in Section 5.4.3.
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5.1 Community
DeSciWorld values inclusion and therefore openly welcomes members. Members may be
incentivised through DAO-funded rewards (in treasury held currencies such $ETH, $USDC
or $DSCI, or alternative rewards like NFTs) by contributing to various engagement initiatives
such as performing specific tasks, joining a working group, or participating in CaaS.
5.2 Governance
To participate in the DeSciWorld DAO governance, a user needs to stake their $DSCI
tokens. Once a user stakes their $DSCI they receive $veDSCI, which can be used to vote on
existing proposals and additionally submit their own proposals.
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5.4.2 Pre-DAO Governance
The $preSCI token governs the DeSciWorld PreDAO and any related treasuries through
simple token-weighted voting on Snapshot.
Any related treasuries will be held in a Gnosis Safe multisignature wallet consisting of the
top 15 holders of $preSCI and 5 members of the Core Team with a required sign quorum of
13 of 20. $preSCI holders outside of the top 20 will also be able to partake in governance.
The Pre-DAO will act as the guardians of the DeSciWorld DAO in the early stages, to support
governance proposals and ensure that malicious attacks do not occur on the ecosystem or
treasury. As the Pre-DAO’s LP allocations unlock, those that claim will immediately forfeit
their $pre-veDSCI (proportional to their claim) thus relinquishing that portion of their voting
power.
As the allocation vesting completes and LP shares are claimed, the Pre-DAO governance
power is removed, leaving full DAO control to the DeSciWorld community. The Pre-DAO
members that claim their LP can then stake any $DSCI tokens to receive $veDSCI - the
same method as all community members.
Below we describe how DeSciWorld operates and the mechanisms by which $DSCI token
holders will govern:
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6.1 Members
DeSciWorld is an open community for anyone interested in DeSci. It is managed by teams
of elected members under the guise of working groups (WG). But, anyone can contribute by
serving on a working group project or working on specific tasks.
6.2 Seasons
Seasons are a set period of time for the execution of DAO operations. Each season budget
allocation, projects and members will be decided for each working team. At the moment
the duration of a season is 6 months, but this can be modified by members of the DAO
through a proposal.
1. Product: The product WG designs, builds, and tests the products that make up the
DeSciWorld ecosystem.
- Operations: Supports the planning and development of tools, systems, and protocols to
minimize the friction in executing the vision of DeSciWorld.
4. Treasury: The treasury WG allocates budgets, protects, and manages the DAO’s assets in
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accordance with the will of its members.
6.4.1 Proposals
Proposals are the suggested decisions on how to allocate the resources of the DAO.
Pre-proposals and proposals may be submitted by any holder of Microbes NFT or $veDSCI
token.
- Membership: Add or remove any member of the DAO or related to any working group.
Request to remove or add extra steps to be a member of the DAO.
- Funding: Requesting funds from the DAO to work on internal projects and improvements.
- Changes in the ecosystem: Changes in the product, changes in the flow of operations.
- Partnership: Add or remove a partner project.
- Outreach initiatives: Attend conferences, pay for advertising, visit a university on behalf of
DeSciWorld, etc.
- Any other type of proposal that is relevant to the management of resources and the
improvement of the DAO.
Only $veDSCI holders are able to vote on the proposals; each token equates to one vote (1
$veDSCI = 1 vote). DAO members can delegate their votes to other members through an
on-chain delegation system.
6.4.2 Quorum
The quorum is based on the number of $veDSCI tokens in circulation (tokens in the
treasury are not taken into account). The default threshold of the quorum is 5% of the
tokens in circulation, but the proposals that imply changes in the structure of the working
groups and the DAO (i.e. dissolution, maintenance or creation of a working group, the
election of the WG members, etc) will have a threshold of 20%. The DAO can change the
default quorum threshold by vote.
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7. Treasury
The DeSciWorld DAO Treasury is to be controlled by the Treasury Working Group and used
for funding each of the other working group’s budget allocations, along with any additional
expenditures voted in by the DAO.
7.1 Funding
The current products and their associated revenue-generating mechanisms are displayed
below in this format:
Product Name
Product Description
Revenue-generating mechanic
DeSci Dashboard
An information aggregation platform designed to make exploring DeSci easy.
Web2-style advertising banner and “featured” page placement; payment taken in
stablecoins, DAO-governed.
NFT Spotlight
A launchpad and marketplace service for DeSci-NFTs. DeSciWorld offers an all in one solution for
creating custom NFT mint contracts, community building and marketing. DeSci-NFTs can be used
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for generating funding for research or conservation, giving visual life to data sets attached to the
NFT, raising awareness of causes and much more.
A % of funds generated upon minting are redirected to the DeSciWorld treasury. The %
charged depends on the complexity of the partnership and workload on DeSciWorld’s side.
Generally, the % fee is between 5% and 20%.
Would-be DeScientists can register a profile with the DeSciWorld platform - anonymous or
doxxed - and use this portal to perform a variety of tasks in return for payment.
A fee charged on the service conducted through the DeSciWorld CaaS portal. Current
proposals for the fee are:
An illustrative example:
A researcher needs to analyze the carbon content of soil in coastlines around the world.
Rather than make the journey themselves, they can outsource this work to DeSciWorld’s
CaaS. Registered users from around the world can acquire the sample, send it to relevant
local labs for processing and then submit the results to the Client. This request is evaluated
prior by the Community Working Group, a price is offered to both Client and Contributor
and when terms are agreed and funds are locked in escrow, the work can begin.
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7.1.2 Ecosystem Grants
Any funding received through Web3 ecosystem grants will be transferred into the
DeSciWorld DAO treasury, where they will be subject to the same procedures for all funds,
unless specifically stated otherwise in a prior DAO proposal, or as required by the Grant
giver in terms of agreement given prior to the Grant funds’ release.
7.2 Security
7.2.1 Treasury Team Requirements
Members of the Treasury working group are required to have publicly open profiles
including real name, general location, public social media profiles and to be open for
contact and questioning. This is to ensure that those with control over the Treasury can be
held accountable for their actions, reducing the chance of a malicious attack.
LEGAL DISCLOSURE
The discussion above identifies some of the factors potential DAO members should consider
when allocating any time or resources to this initiative. These factors are not intended to be
exhaustive in evaluating whether DeSciWorld is a suitable initiative and no single factor is
determinative. The “DeSciWorld Whitepaper” is provided for informational purposes only.
Nothing in this document is intended to constitute investment or other professional advice or be
an opinion of the appropriateness or suitability of any investment. We encourage potential
participants to seek professional advice with respect to their personal financial circumstances
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and needs, before allocating any time or resources to this initiative. All decisions pertaining to
the launch and release of the $DSCI token are to be carried out by the DeSciWorld pre-DAO, as
discussed above.
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