When you think of wildlife conservation, what type of fundraising platform pops into your head? OnlyFans probably isn’t the first—or even the fifth—that comes to mind, but it’s actually helping support the long-running Rocky Mountain Marmot Project led by Colorado-based biologist and UCLA professor Dr. Daniel Blumstein and University of Ottawa researcher Julien Martin.
The Marmot Project, which has been running for the last 60 years, is the world’s second-longest study of individually identified mammals, after Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzee research in Tanzania. But after cuts to federal university funding, the team became concerned about how the project would continue to be financed.
A potential solution came to Blumstein after watching Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a TV series based on a novel about a single mother who turns to OnlyFans to support herself and her child. He started wondering if he could use the same platform to raise the funds he needed. He pitched the unconventional idea to his graduate students, and one of them came up with the perfect name: “OnlyMarms.”
The team began posting what they jokingly call “uncensored marmot content” to the adult-only site, but it’s nowhere near as risqué as it sounds. The family-friendly videos simply capture the Rocky Mountain rodents scurrying around, popping out of their burrows, and going about their daily lives. “Our goal isn’t really to sexualize the marmots,” Blumstein explained. “It’s to celebrate the marmots.”
The wholesome OnlyMarms content initially raised around $6,000, but the funding soon skyrocketed after something unexpected happened. Outside supporters of the project created a marmot-themed cryptocurrency, or “meme coin,” called $OnlyMarms, with all transaction fees donated to support the study. Incredibly, the marmot memecoin raised $88,000 in just two weeks, bringing the total raised to around $100,000.
An anonymous online community created the memecoin on the Solana blockchain. Although the researchers initially feared it was a scam, they soon realized it could be an unexpected way to keep the research going. The creative fundraising effort means the team behind the Marmot Project can continue their work for at least another year.
“I’m completely amazed that this internet culture that I barely know of has raised so much money,” said Julien Martin, the co-leader of the project. “It’s fascinating and shocking to me. Of course I dream for more—if we get $300,000 that will fund a PhD student on the project for the next four years—but for now we are talking about how to make this money stretch as long as possible.”
While the unconventional fundraising has kept the project going for now, it’s no replacement for reliable government funding. Long-term monitoring is crucial for understanding how climate change is affecting marmots and their habitat. “Of course we have been lucky and we might get luckier if the memecoin does even better but I understand it’s not for everyone,” said Martin. “It worked for us because we were the first. But it has been nice to see crypto be used for good.”
Find out more about the Marmot Project on Instagram.
The Marmot Project unexpectedly raised around $100,000 after the researchers starting posting OnlyMarms content on OnlyFans.
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Supporters of the project then created a marmot-themed cryptocurrency, or “meme coin,” called $OnlyMarms, with all transaction fees donated to support the study.
Marmot Project: Instagram
Source: Scientists who turned to OnlyFans to fund marmot research receive crypto boost
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