  Blockchain has received much attention recently, due to its promises of
verifiable, permanent, decentralized, and efficient data handling. In 2017-2019
blockchain and associated technologies such as smart contracts has progressed
beyond cryptocurrencies, and has been adopted in banking, retail, healthcare,
and other fields. This study critically examines recent applications of
blockchain in science, touching upon different stages of research cycle, from
data management to publishing, peer review, research evaluation and funding.
The paper is based upon a review of blockchain projects, relevant literature, a
set of interviews and focus groups with startup founders, scholars, librarians,
IT experts from the EU, USA, Russia, and Belarus. Proponents of blockchain for
science present this technology as a tool to make science free from bias, red
tape, data fraud, as well as provide innovative means to secure financial
backing for new ideas. However, these projects face a set of challenges. One
issue concerns introducing crypto economy, with its financial incentives, into
science, a field that emphasizes disinterested and non-pecuniary pursuit of
truth. Another source of concern relates to the ongoing conflict between the
principle of decentralization inherent to blockchain and the practice of
forcing it from above, by the state and other centralized entities.
