Endaoment Partners with ResearchHub: Funding Institutional Research with Crypto
· 3 min read · Endaoment
Endaoment and ResearchHub have joined forces to create a powerful new avenue for tax-deductible crowdfunding of academic research. This partnership combines our composable, onchain protocol along with ResearchHub's science-focused fundraising platform.
An Organic Partnership Born from Necessity
ResearchHub approached us with a challenge. Fundraising through their platform is conducted using RSC, but research institutions process grants in dollars and require comprehensive donor due diligence. Tyler Diario, Chief of Staff at ResearchHub, called upon our platform to process the gift into dollars and help assist with the legal due diligence of the grantmaking.
Traditional grantmaking is slow, opaque, and often full of strict regulations on how the funding can be used. In some cases, receiving funds can take up to six months, and they generally can’t be used to cover food costs or other incidental needs for those working in labs. Crypto and ResearchHub are a clear antidote, leveraging their global, traceable, and programmable nature to streamline these problems into solutions.
How It Works
With ResearchHub v2, users can now fund scientific research directly through preregistrations using ResearchCoin (RSC), ResearchHub’s native token.
Our crypto-native, IRS-compliant system receives RSC donations upon the successful close of a project’s fundraise. Endaoment then converts the RSC to USDC stablecoins, and transfers the funds directly to the specific lab or primary investigator at the University. At the same time, donors get tax-deductible receipts for RSC donations to eligible projects, and researchers gain fast access to funding without the bureaucracy. This is only made possible by the fact that Endaoment and ResearchHub’s smart contracts leverage Uniswap and USDC’s permissionless nature, and are kept cheap, fast, and efficient thanks to Base’s L2 architecture.
Real-World Impact
Endaoment and ResearchHub executed an exciting proofs-of-concept to demonstrate how this will generate impact in the real world. We established a new community fund on Endaoment called the ResearchHub Charitable Fund, to distribute grants to qualifying recipient nonprofits where research is being conducted.
One of our first successful distributions for this integration was Jason Tucciarone's research on fentanyl addiction at Stanford University, which successfully raised $25k in RSC funding. Both distributions are visible both onchain and on the Endaoment app by viewing the community fund.
Going forward, any researchers affiliated with a qualified nonprofit will be able to attach details about their lab to their fundraise on ResearchHub. All contributions of more than $500 in RSC token will automatically create a tax receipt for the donor, and completed fundraisers will have their capital distributed via Endaoment directly to the sponsoring nonprofit.
The Power of Preregistration
Preregistration, championed by ResearchHub co-founder Patrick Joyce, forms the cornerstone of their funding model. Primary Investigators on ResearchHub must share their plans early and out loud to attract support, enhancing scientific integrity and enabling community-driven funding.
This openness strengthens the relationship between the donor or funder and the researcher or recipient, no matter where they are in the world. This not only enhances the quality of scientific outcomes but also reinforces our collective commitment to transparency, permissionlessness, and building with integrity.
What's Next
Tax-deductible funding to researchers at qualifying nonprofits is just the beginning. We are actively exploring extending tax-deductible funding to researchers outside universities, too, through possible fiscal sponsorship of ResearchHub.
Currently, funders can determine which projects are eligible for tax-deductible donations by looking for the "tax-deductible" tag on ResearchHub. In the future, we hope to increase the number of participating institutions and even extend support to all independent scientists on ResearchHub.
Thanks to the composability and programmability of the Endaoment ecosystem, we’re building a more progressive future for research funding that democratizes access and accelerates scientific discovery together. Major gratitude to the innovative team at ResearchHub and to everyone who will help advance science through this incredible partnership.
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