OpenDeSci Announces Strategic Partnership with ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN) to Advance On-Chain Infrastructure for Scientific Research
- Johnston Chen
- May 30
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
PRESS RELEASE
California, USA – 30th May 2025
OpenDeSci, a decentralized science infrastructure initiative, and ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN), a programmable value flow network for real-world assets, today announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop and deploy blockchain-based financial rails to support scientific collaboration and research funding.
Under the terms of the collaboration, OpenDeSci will integrate ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN)’s suite of decentralized payment infrastructure, including real-time payroll streaming and on-chain debit cards, into its research coordination platform. The objective is to unlock programmable and transparent financial tooling for researchers, labs, and independent contributors operating within decentralized science (DeSci) ecosystems.
The initiative will be supported by OpenDeSci’s academic partner, IMT Business School at the University of St. Gallen, which will provide access to institutional research expertise and frameworks for use case validation.
“Our vision is to bring scalable, verifiable and programmable financial infrastructure to the edges of scientific innovation,” said David Wang, Founder of OpenDeSci. “Zebec is uniquely positioned to help us do that—its proven architecture for real-world value flows aligns with our need for auditable, cross-border, and milestone-driven funding systems.”
ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN) has raised over $35 million from investors including Circle, Coinbase, Solana Ventures, Republic, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The network powers on-chain payroll, consumer payments, and the Zebec Card—a globally accepted token-native debit product integrated with the Mastercard network, currently available in over 50 countries. The company has facilitated over $35 million in card volume with over 50.000 active users.
Through this collaboration, OpenDeSci aims to explore several operational use cases, including:
Streamed and conditional grant disbursements tied to scientific milestone verification
Researcher-issued prepaid debit cards with token-denominated spending
Automated contributor rewards based on peer-review and data-sharing KPIs
Community-driven funding rounds with real-world payment rails
“We see decentralized science as one of the most compelling frontiers for programmable finance,” said Sam Thapaliya, founder of ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN). “OpenDeSci has built a credible ecosystem with real-world academic partnerships. We’re excited to support this next phase of experimentation and adoption.”
The parties will begin pilot deployment in Q3 2025, with results contributing to a jointly authored research series in collaboration with academic and cryptographic research institutions.
For inquiries, please contact:
ZEBEC NETWORK Media Relations
OpenDeSci Communications
About ZEBEC NETWORK
ZEBEC NETWORK (Ticker: ZBCN) enables real-world value flows with blockchain-powered payroll, cards, and payments for both traditional and digital economies. Founded in 2021 and backed by leading investors including Circle, Coinbase, Solana Ventures, and Lightspeed, ZEBEC NETWORK serves hundreds of Web2 and Web3 companies, bringing blockchain into everyday life. Learn more at zebec.io
About OpenDeSci:
OpenDeSci is building the decentralized stack for science—combining blockchain, AI, and Web3 tools to make research faster, fairer, and more accessible. From peer review to funding and publishing, OpenDeSci is reimagining how knowledge is created and shared. Learn more at opendesci.org.
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