Blockchain Applications Beyond Decentralized Finance: Stablecoins, Real-World Assets, and Decentralized Science

Blockchain research and practice have long been shaped by decentralized finance, trading, and crypto-native markets. However, the field is now entering a more mature phase in which blockchain technologies are increasingly applied to broader problems of trust, ownership, verification, coordination, and institutional integration. Stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and decentralized science (DeSci) show that blockchain applications are no longer marginal or speculative possibilities; they have demonstrated sufficient adoption, investment, and practical relevance to be treated as lasting parts of the blockchain landscape. At the same time, their expansion raises complex challenges. Stablecoins require credible reserve management, auditability, redemption mechanisms, consumer protection, and regulatory oversight. RWA tokenization requires enforceable legal rights, custody arrangements, valuation models, oracle systems, compliance frameworks, and investor protections. DeSci raises questions concerning tokenized scientific outputs, intellectual property licensing, data rights, privacy, consent, research integrity, commercialization, and equitable access to scientific benefits.This Research Topic examines stablecoins, RWAs, and DeSci as blockchain applications beyond conventional decentralized finance. These domains have moved beyond early experimentation and are becoming durable components of emerging digital infrastructure. Stablecoins are now widely used for payments, settlement, liquidity provision, remittances, and programmable transactions. RWA tokenization is connecting blockchain systems with securities, tokenized stocks, commodities, treasuries, private credit, invoices, real estate, carbon credits, intellectual property, and other legally recognized assets. DeSci is also moving from conceptual experimentation toward practical implementation, with blockchain-based mechanisms being used to coordinate research funding, manage scientific intellectual property, support data provenance, incentivize peer review, enable community participation, and structure collaboration between researchers, funders, laboratories, and translational ventures. The goal of this article collection is to advance rigorous research on the technical, legal, economic, governance, and application challenges that must be addressed for these systems to operate responsibly and at scale.We invite original research, reviews, systematic reviews, mini reviews, perspectives, opinions, methods papers, technology and code articles, community case studies, data reports, policy briefs, and policy and practice reviews. Contributions may address stablecoin design, reserve transparency, payment systems, cross-border settlement, programmability, compliance, consumer protection, monetary stability, and financial inclusion. We also welcome work on tokenized securities, tokenized stocks, commodities, treasuries, private credit, real estate, carbon credits, intellectual property, legal ownership, custody, settlement finality, asset verification, valuation, secondary markets, and institutional adoption of RWA platforms. Submissions on decentralized science may examine blockchain-based research funding, tokenized intellectual property, scientific data provenance, reproducibility, decentralized peer review, research integrity, scientific data markets, laboratory collaboration, and governance of research communities. Interdisciplinary papers addressing the intersections between stablecoins, RWA, and DeSci, including legal, regulatory, technical, ethical, empirical, and application-focused perspectives, are especially encouraged.Dr. Vincent Challier is the founder of SpineDAO, an active DeSci project. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject. Topic editors: Nassim Dehouche, Daniel Ari Friedman, Alessandro Stasi, Vincent Challier Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81190/blockchain-applications-beyond-decentralized-finance-stablecoins-real-world-assets-and-decentralized-science