PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, February 6, 2026 - The World Laureates Association (WLA) has launched OPENSCI, an assurance-focused open scientific infrastructure initiative intended to examine how next-generation digital technologies can underpin the long-term preservation, trusted verification, and collaborative reuse of scientific knowledge.
OPENSCI was introduced publicly at the World Laureates Summit 2026 (WLS 2026) in Dubai, the association said. WLS 2026 gathers leading scientists including Nobel Prize laureates alongside government officials and heads of public institutions for high-level discussion on basic science, frontier technologies, and strategic considerations for humanity’s long-term development. The debut of OPENSCI was singled out as one of the summit’s noteworthy outcomes.
The initiative has been developed inside the WLA with systematic design work contributed by the association’s preparatory teams. OPENSCI is framed not as a single research program or a funding vehicle, but as an open scientific infrastructure that seeks to bridge traditional research systems with decentralized and intelligent technologies.
According to the WLA, the project is intended to test models for durable preservation, credible verification, and sustained accessibility of scientific knowledge. OPENSCI is positioned to provide foundational, long-term support for the global research community by recording and validating research outputs, scientific hypotheses, and datasets in a structured manner.
The WLA says a global advisory network, which includes Nobel Prize laureates and contributors from leading university laboratories and advanced research institutions, has guided the platform’s development. The association intends for the platform to apply blockchain-based mechanisms to create a knowledge base that is transparent, traceable, and resilient over time, and to thereby foster conditions for cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Michael Gan, Co-Founder of KuCoin and Deputy Secretary-General of the WLA, took part in discussions around OPENSCI’s development and its launch. In a statement, he said:
"I have long followed and supported developments in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and basic science, and I have always believed technology should serve the long-term accumulation and sharing of scientific knowledge. As AI plays a growing role in research analysis, knowledge organization, and interdisciplinary discovery, building trusted and verifiable data and knowledge infrastructure is becoming increasingly critical. OPENSCI aims to explore a path toward open scientific infrastructure for the global research community—leveraging blockchain and AI to support the long-term preservation, verification, and collaboration of research outputs, data, and scientific knowledge."
The WLA framed OPENSCI’s launch as emblematic of a broader directional change in international scientific cooperation - moving away from collaboration models centered primarily on discrete projects and single institutions toward an infrastructure-driven approach intended to support long-term accumulation and transmission of knowledge across borders and generations.
OPENSCI is described by the WLA as a blockchain-based scientific research infrastructure and a decentralized scientific collaboration network augmented by AI. The association says the platform aims to empower scientists by enabling scientist-led governance and autonomous value circulation, positioning the effort as a potential new paradigm for how science is organized and sustained.
About KuCoin
Founded in 2017, KuCoin is described as a global crypto platform with more than 40 million users across over 200 countries and regions. The firm provides access to 1,000+ listed tokens and offers spot and futures trading, institutional wealth management, and a Web3 wallet.
KuCoin is noted as holding SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certifications. The company has registration with AUSTRAC in Australia and holds a MiCA license in Austria, and it is led by CEO BC Wong, the WLA materials say. The platform’s website is listed as www.kucoin.com.
About OPENSCI
The OPENSCI Platform is described as a blockchain-based scientific research infrastructure and a decentralized scientific collaboration network powered by AI. OPENSCI’s stated objective is to empower scientists and establish a scientist-led governance model along with autonomous value circulation. Additional information is available at www.opensci.io.
Contact
KuCoin Media Team
[email protected]