Quick Breakdown
- Bio Protocol raised $6.9M from backers, including Animoca Brands and Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Fund.
- The platform integrates AI and blockchain to speed up the drug discovery pipeline.
- Its model uses onchain records and tokenized incentives to fix broken academic science systems.
Backing from Hayes, Animoca Brands, and others
Decentralized science (DeSci) platform Bio Protocol has raised $6.9 million in fresh funding to expand its artificial intelligence-native biotech framework. The round drew support from investors, including Maelstrom Fund, founded by Arthur Hayes, and Animoca Brands, signalling rising interest in blockchain-powered drug discovery.
Announcing our $6.9m raise – anchored by @CryptoHayes @MaelstromFund
To speed up science using AI and crypto.
Science is slow because researchers are siloed with little incentive to collaborate.
Bio changes that. pic.twitter.com/8wz4oSkqx7
— Bio Protocol (@BioProtocol) September 17, 2025
A new launchpad for research
Hayes, best known as the co-founder of BitMEX, described Bio Protocol as a potential
“category-defining launchpad”
for scientific research.
“If it works, it’s not just a launchpad – it’s the birth of an AI-native research market,”
he said
He stressed that the platform goes beyond academic silos by opening research opportunities to communities, aligning with DeSci’s mission of democratizing science through blockchain, crypto incentives, and decentralized governance.
Earlier this year, Hayes sparked a discussion about the global investment landscape, suggesting that the emergence of DeepSeek AI, a Chinese rival to OpenAI, could shift investor preferences away from U.S.-based stocks, bonds, and assets toward more global opportunities.
Compressing the drug discovery pipeline
Bio Protocol aims to speed up drug discovery by combining AI with blockchain coordination. Instead of waiting years for grants or pharma partnerships, researchers can deploy decentralized AI agents called “BioAgents” to generate hypotheses, link to onchain wallets, and direct community-funded capital into experiments.
Each step is recorded onchain, ensuring transparency, immutable credit for contributors, and accountability throughout the research process.
Tokenized incentives for faster science
The protocol uses tokenized intellectual property, staking systems, and loyalty rewards to align researchers, investors, and communities around shared outcomes. Simon Dedic, founder of Moonrock Capital, said DeSci may appear “like a meme” in its early days but believes Bio Protocol could be a game-changer.
“Coming from academic science myself, I know firsthand how broken the system is, with massively misaligned incentives that have fatal consequences across the board,”
Dedic explained.
Part of a bigger DeSci movement
Bio Protocol positioned itself as part of a broader DeSci wave that aims to reduce dependence on universities, government grants, and pharmaceutical giants. By creating community-driven alternatives, the platform hopes to make research more accessible, transparent, and efficient for independent scientists and innovators.
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