Economists Propose Ethereum Founder As Nobel Economics Prize Candidate

Two economists recently discussed the forthcoming Nobel Prize in Economic Science and the possible outcome for this year’s ceremony, naming Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, as their unconventional pick for his contribution to crypto.

Economists Make Non-Traditional Pick For Nobel Prize In Economics

On Tuesday, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabbarok discussed their predictions for the upcoming Nobel Prize in Economics winner. In The Marginal Revolution Podcast, the two economists shared their thoughts on “questionable” past winners and who they believed could win the prize this year, exploring a non-traditional pick like Vitalik Buterin.

Cowen proposed Ethereum’s founder as his unusual choice, citing his contributions to crypto. He considers that Buterin, unlike the economists he could think of, “actually did something on monetary economics” and contributed to the “theory of crypto.”

Tabbarok agreed with his co-host, noting that economists are starting to take a greater interest in the industry “as it has become a bigger share of the economy,” but highlighted that the fundamentals of crypto were all developed by computer scientists.

Additionally, he argued that crypto is an “applied mechanism design in the world,” noting that Bitcoin and Ethereum are incredible examples. Tabbarok emphasized they are working in the real world, even if many would have considered it “impossible” years ago.

Cowen also listed Vitalik Buterin’s contributions, questioning what else would be required for Ethereum’s founder candidacy to be considered:

Vitalik built a platform, created a currency, you could say, refuted Mises’ regression theorem in the process, obviously following in the footsteps of Satoshi, but my goodness, what does someone have to do to get a Nobel Prize?

Ethereum’s Founder Case For The Prize

The economist also underscored the network’s performance, noting ETH’s hundreds of billions of dollars in market valuation. As of this writing, Ethereum is the biggest chain by total value locked (TVL), with $45.9 billion and a 57.4% dominance.

Meanwhile, ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency that powers the Ethereum ecosystem, has a market capitalization of nearly $293 billion, according to CoinMarketCap Data.

Adding to Buterin’s case, Tabbarok pointed out that Ethereum’s founder has continuously contributed toward the network’s mechanism design by moving from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

The economist considered keeping the network running while making the change was a notable feat. “You ever seen those videos of these guys in Saudi Arabia where they change the car tires while the car is moving? That’s what Ethereum did. Incredible,” Tabbarok stated.

Cowen also argued that Buterin’s input on monetary economics is noteworthy, as it exceeds that of other economists in many related topics: “There is no economist who has anything better to say on the topics he writes on. And that, to me, it’s worth a lot in this consideration.”

To finish their case on Ethereum’s founder candidacy, the economists highlighted Buterin’s charity work, citing his many crypto donations valued at millions of dollars to different charities.

The economist briefly hopped into the ongoing debate about the Bitcoin creator’s whereabouts. Tabbarok suggested that Satoshi Nakamoto should have gotten a Nobel Prize in economics but shared that he doesn’t see it possible as Nakamoto is likely dead.

Ultimately, Cowen refuted his colleague’s theory about Bitcoin’s creator status but agreed that he wouldn’t get the prize as he doesn’t “think you can give it to someone you cannot identify.”

Featured image from The New York Times, Chart from TradingView.com