DeSci Seoul 2025: AI, Blockchain and tokenization redefine science in Asia

Today, September 22, marks the start of DeSci Seoul 2025, a conference highlighting how AI and blockchain are redefining science in Asia through tokenization and new technologies.

A technological pulse runs through Seoul: Researchers, developers, and capital converge to reimagine how knowledge is produced and financed. 

La DeSci Seoul Summit 2025, which begins today, September 22, explores how artificial intelligence and Web3 infrastructure can transform laboratories, publications, and funding networks, establishing Korea as a testing ground for decentralized science in Asia and beyond.

AI, Blockchain, and Tokenization: New Tools for Scientific Discoveries

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing science, acting as a real turbocharger for researchers. Thanks to AI, you can analyze data at incredible speed and find hidden patterns. which, until recently, were undetectable.

Imagine that several hospitals want to collaborate on research into a rare disease. Previously, they had to share all their patient data, a slow process with serious privacy risks. Now, with the latest technology, Deep learning and federated learning can collaborate securely without sharing a single sensitive piece of data.It's as if everyone put their minds to work on a common problem, but without revealing their secrets.

However, this new superpower does not come without its own challenges. As AI becomes more powerful, it also becomes more difficult to understand. how he reaches his conclusions (This is called "explainability"). There is also a risk that AI models will be affected by the data biases with which they train, which could lead to erroneous results.

To face these challenges, the community of DeSci (decentralized science) is working to ensure that AI in research is transparent, fair and reproducibleIn essence, they are creating the rules of the game so that this new era of science is rigorous, reliable, and, above all, beneficial for everyone.

An AI to enhance scientific work

Generative AI tools are transforming literature review and synthesis, automating repetitive tasks and increasing research productivity. However, reliance on closed models poses risks to external validation; therefore, The summit advocates for open and decentralized architectures as part of the DeSci ecosystem. The goal is for AI to enhance, not replace, scientific evaluation.

Integrating AI with decentralized registries allows results and models to be anchored to tamper-resistant proofs of existence. This combination strengthens traceability and creates incentives to share verified code and data. In Seoul, regulatory frameworks and technical standards for certifying models and ensuring that automation goes hand in hand with ethics and scientific integrity are also being discussed.

All of these early experiences serve as a roadmap for scaling solutions, integrating community governance and open metrics that allow measuring real scientific impact.

Blockchain to protect data and fund decentralized research

In the scientific industry, blockchain offers immutability and proof of provenance, which are key to protecting experimental data and academic credentials. Anchoring dataset hashes, unique data identifiers, and software versions in smart contracts reduces the risk of tampering and improves the auditability of results. This boosts trust among collaborators and facilitates reproducibility.

Beyond integrity, blockchain technology enables new alternative funding models: utility tokens to fund laboratories, DAOs that decide on collective grants, and data markets that reward responsible sharing. These modalities seek to break the dependence on centralized funding and democratize access to capital and scientific resources.

Furthermore, the tokenization of academic assets, such as datasets or experimental protocols, enables more direct value flows between creators and funders. Therefore, the summit seeks to address the need for privacy and compliance through various techniques that allow value sharing without exposing sensitive data, while maintaining the confidentiality required by regulations.

According to the organizers of the event's audience, AI X Data Summit, DeSci Seoul 2025 He envisions that the convergence of artificial intelligence, blockchain-protected data, and decentralized models will revolutionize scientific research. 

It is, therefore, a global event that brings together leaders from diverse sectors to Rethinking how technology can accelerate discoveries and foster more equitable collaborationsAll of this, with the goal of ushering in a new era where intelligent systems and decentralized networks create a more dynamic and transparent ecosystem for science.

South Korea Leading DeSci: Ecosystem, Policies, and Talent

South Korea combines advanced digital infrastructure, university networks and a vibrant startup ecosystem, elements that place it in a leading position for DeSci In Asia, government support for innovation and a strong culture of public-private collaboration facilitate the deployment of full-scale pilots in health, energy, and biotechnology.

Seoul also benefits from technical talent and venture capital willing to experiment with tokenized models and scientific DAOs. In this context, Seoul aspires to be a DeSci policy laboratory, demonstrating that a combination of governance, funding, and technology can create an ecosystem where science is more collaborative, transparent, and aligned with social impact, from basic research to industrial applications.

What is DeSci and how is Web3 revolutionizing science?

La decentralized scienceKnown as DeSci, is changing the way knowledge is produced and financed. Instead of relying on traditional intermediaries, this innovation uses distributed technologies to make science more accessible, collaborative, and fair. The central idea is that by opening up participation and transparently rewarding genuine contributions, knowledge can grow more robustly and without barriers.

One of the pillars of DeSci is the tokenization on blockchain, a process that transforms scientific elements such as data, protocols, or peer reviews into digital tokens. These tokens function as ownership certificates or single access, which can be exchanged and assign real value to these contributions. This allows scientists to receive micropayments for their work, generate markets where data is shared with fair compensation, and have more flexible and democratic intellectual property models.

Imagine a researcher who wants his data to be permanent and for anyone to be able to benefit from his work. Using systems like IPFS, can store your data securely and accessible to everyone, without fear of losing it. Then, they create a digital token that acts as unique proof of that data and can also grant future rights to any profits their research may generate, such as the sale of licenses. This not only ensures that the work is verifiable and transparent, but also incentivizes the scientific community to collaborate and share, because recognition and rewards are now clear and automatic.

Thus, DeSci offers a new ecosystem where Science is becoming more open, trustworthy and connected, thanks to technology that eliminates intermediaries and builds trust through decentralization.