The return of Donald Trump to the White House has caused a real budgetary drain in American administrations. Universities, caught in the turmoil, saw their funding melt away like snow in the sun. It was in this context of scarcity that UCLA researchers had to demonstrate desperate inventiveness to save their project. Their solution? An OnlyFans account. And a memecoin on Solana. Ironically: it is the latter which brings in the most.
In brief
- The study of yellow-bellied marmots, which has been going on since 1962, has lost federal funding and must find alternative funding.
- The OnlyFans account “OnlyMarms” generated around $6,000 by promising uncensored marmot content to subscribers.
- An OnlyMarms memecoin created on Pump.fun and Solana raised more than $25,000 in three days, surpassing OnlyFans donations.
- Researchers now collect transaction fees from the token, but this source of funding remains volatile and uncertain.
Marmots on OnlyFans: science in underwear in the face of budget cuts
Solana news: since 1962, the study of yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado has constituted a world reference for biologists. This program, one of the oldest in the world, saw its federal subsidies suddenly dry up. The National Science Foundation refused to renew its funding, while the UCLA department lost a third of its support for graduate students.
“ No. It’s appalling “, says Professor Daniel Blumstein at NPR .
What we are doing is destroying the scientific structure and university-federal partnerships that made us great. Professor Daniel Blumstein
To save his project, Blumstein had an idea that was offbeat to say the least: 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 observation, researchers had to turn to other horizons.
Solana memecoin brings in more than OnlyFans: the irony of the crypto market
The crypto community quickly spotted the groundhog story, turning this scientific cause into a viral phenomenon. On Pump.fun, a token launch platform on Solana, strangers created an OnlyMarms token without researchers asking.
Blumstein says:
People independently created a meme coin and told us to collect the transaction — record it, and then we get the transaction fee. And it explodes.. Apparently, it’s a meme corner for the good that people like.
In three days, the token generated more than $25,000, more than double OnlyFans donations. This paradox raises questions: a speculative asset, often criticized in the crypto sphere, now finances scientific research better than federal subsidies.
However, this financial windfall remains fragile. Memecoins attract attention, but their volume often evaporates as quickly as it appeared.
Beer, competitions and appearances: science reinvents itself on Solana
The researchers deployed a creative arsenal to attract attention and donations. A Colorado brewery has launched a “Marmot Tears IPA” beer. A public “Fat Marmot Week” competition was organized on Instagram. Media appearances are multiplying: NPR, ABC, Radio-Canada.
Professor Julien Martin, co-leader of the study, even registered the token on Pump.fun to guarantee costs to the laboratory. The project now has a dedicated thank you page on its official website.
This ingenuity commands admiration, but it also reveals a disturbing truth. Scientists spend more time seeking funding than doing 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 in progress since 1962
Can memecoins really save American science?
The success of the OnlyMarms token on Solana raises a fundamental question: can memecoins become a sustainable source of funding for science? The answer is uncertain. The volatility of cryptocurrencies and the ephemeral nature of memecoin trends make this financing precarious.
However, this project demonstrated 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 story of the marmots could well become a textbook case, a perfect illustration of the crisis hitting American science.
Solana is resisting the fall of altcoins thanks to tokenization and memecoins. This network attracts innovative projects, from marmots to decentralized finance. The OnlyMarms story shows that crypto can serve unexpected causes. But it also reveals the urgency of rethinking research funding.
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