In an eyebrow-raising development, ResearchHub, the scientific research platform founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, is facing serious allegations of intellectual theft. According to a recent court filing, Armstrong’s site may have been built on the back of Knowledgr, a budding research platform backed by MouseBelt Labs.

The Accusations: What’s Cooking at ResearchHub?

MouseBelt Labs isn’t just tossing around accusations for fun; they filed a formal complaint with the Superior Court of California asserting that Armstrong had ulterior motives when he expressed interest in Knowledgr. In a classic “keep your friends close and your competitors closer” move, it is alleged that Armstrong had already been working on ResearchHub while masquerading as a potential investor in Knowledgr.

Timeline of Events: The Plot Thickens

To understand this brewing controversy, let’s look back at some key moments:

• Early 2019: Brian Armstrong shares his vision for an open-source scientific publishing platform.
• Early 2019: Patrick Joyce, founder of Knowledgr, reaches out to Armstrong to discuss his project.
• April 2020: Joyce leaves Knowledgr under less-than-rosy circumstances.
• May 2020: Joyce hops on over to ResearchHub as its chief scientific officer.

The issue here? Apparently, while Armstrong was courting Joyces’s project, ResearchHub was already in the works, allegedly using the knowledge and resources gleaned from Knowledgr.

Legal Drama Unfolds: The Court Filing

The legalese here sounds like a bad episode of a courtroom drama. According to MouseBelt’s complaint, Armstrong and his team allegedly intended to deprive Knowledgr of its potential—both financially and competitively. The filing claims this was a calculated move to accelerate ResearchHub’s launch by benefiting from the groundwork laid by MouseBelt.

The Defense: Coinbase Responds

Of course, this kind of drama is no cakewalk for Coinbase. A spokesperson stated, “We believe the claims are entirely frivolous and we look forward to proving our case in court.” Guess they’re not worried about any ‘criminal masterminding’ here!

What is ResearchHub Anyway?

So, what exactly is ResearchHub? Armstrong describes it as akin to a “GitHub for science,” aiming to turbocharge the scientific research process. With a novel twist, the platform utilizes ResearchCoin (RSC), an ERC-20 token to incentivize contributions. This raises the question: was the idea novel, or just ‘borrowed’?

ResearchHub is actively seeking contributors and making a tempting offer—to join their DAO and rake in $3,000 a month in RSC. Not a bad side hustle, if you ask me!