OnlyMarms: How researchers accidentally sparked a Solana memecoin frenzy

Donald Trump’s return to the White House caused a real budget bleeding in American administrations. Universities, caught in the turmoil, saw their funding melt like snow in the sun. It is in this context of scarcity that UCLA researchers had to show desperate inventiveness to save their project. Their solution? An OnlyFans account. And a memecoin on Solana. Irony of fate: it is the latter that generates the most revenue.

Marmots on OnlyFans: science stripped bare by budget cuts

Since 1962, the study of yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado has been a global reference for biologists. This program, one of the oldest in the world, saw its federal grants abruptly dry up. The National Science Foundation refused to renew its funding, while UCLA’s department lost a third of its support for graduate students.

“No. This is appalling“, says Professor Daniel Blumstein to NPR.

What we are doing is destroying the scientific structure and the university-federal partnerships that made us great. Professor Daniel Blumstein

To save his project, Blumstein had a rather offbeat idea: create an OnlyFans account called “OnlyMarms”, promising “uncensored marmot content”. The account generated about $6,000, far from the $75,000 to $100,000 annually needed. 

Faced with this reality, researchers had to look elsewhere.

Solana memecoin beats OnlyFans: the crypto market’s twisted irony

The crypto community quickly noticed the marmot story, turning this scientific cause into a viral phenomenon. On Pump.fun, a token launch platform on Solana, strangers created an OnlyMarms token without the researchers asking for it.

Blumstein recounts:

People independently created a memecoin and told us to claim the transaction — to register it, and then we get the transaction fees. And it’s blowing up.. Apparently, it’s a memecoin for the good that people like.

In three days, the token generated over $25,000, more than double the OnlyFans donations. This paradox raises questions: a speculative asset, often criticized in the crypto sphere, now finances scientific research better than federal grants.

Yet, this financial windfall remains fragile. Memecoins attract attention, but their volume often evaporates as quickly as it appeared.

Beer, contests and TV spots: science gets creative on Solana

Researchers deployed a creative arsenal to attract attention and donations. A Colorado brewery launched a beer called “Marmot Tears IPA.” A public contest “Fat Marmot Week” was organized on Instagram. Media appearances multiply: NPR, ABC, Radio-Canada.

Professor Julien Martin, co-leader of the study, even registered the token on Pump.fun to guarantee fees to the lab. The project now has a dedicated thank-you page on its official site.

This ingenuity is admirable but also reveals a disturbing truth. Scientists spend more time seeking funding than conducting research.

Key figures of the OnlyMarms project on Solana

• SOL Price at time of writing: $73.93
• OnlyFans: ~ $6,000 raised
• Memecoin: > $25,000 in 3 days
• Annual goal: $75,000 – $100,000
• Study ongoing since 1962

Can memecoins really save American science from collapse?

The success of the OnlyMarms token on Solana raises a fundamental question: can memecoins become a sustainable funding source for science? The answer is uncertain. The volatility of cryptocurrencies and the fleeting nature of memecoin trends make this funding precarious.

Yet, this project has shown that the Internet can mobilize funds for unexpected scientific causes. Blumstein sees this situation as a wake-up call for the entire American scientific community. The federal research funding system is collapsing, and scientists must turn to alternative solutions.

The marmot story could well become a case study, a perfect illustration of the crisis hitting American science.

Solana resists the altcoin slump thanks to tokenization and memecoins. This network attracts innovative projects, from marmots to decentralized finance. The story of OnlyMarms shows that crypto can serve unexpected causes. But it also reveals the urgent need to rethink research funding.