Crypto: Vitalik Buterin On His Way To A Nobel Prize In Economics

With the massive adoption of cryptos, it seems that a Nobel Prize is all that is missing to definitively establish the legitimacy of the industry. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, might well be on the list of contenders for the Nobel Prize in Economics. But why would this young prodigy be chosen among traditional economists? The arguments in his favor are based on major technological contributions to the crypto industry, as highlighted by a recent discussion among influential economists.

The Founder of Ethereum: A Misunderstood Genius?

Vitalik Buterin is not just a visionary, he is the architect behind one of the greatest economic revolutions since the creation of Bitcoin. At 19 years old, he co-founded Ethereum in 2013 with four other people, and this platform quickly became the second-largest crypto in the world with a capitalization of $293.5 billion. Quite a feat.

Ethereum Price at the time of writing this article: $2,433.

And as economist Tyler Cowen points out: “Vitalik built a platform, created a currency… what more does he need to do to get a Nobel Prize?”

Beyond the numbers, Buterin has contributed considerable technical advances, notably with Ethereum’s transition to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in 2022 thanks to The Merge, an initiative that leaves no room for the selfish. This transition reduced the network’s energy consumption by 99% while keeping the machine well-oiled.

A real feat considering it was like changing the wheels of a car in the middle of a race.

Crypto: An Underestimated Revolution by Traditional Economics

In a world where crypto remains a mystery to some traditional economists, Buterin proves that this technology is much more than just a fad. Professors Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarro, discussing potential Nobel laureates, highlighted that Bitcoin and Ethereum, if envisioned beforehand, would have seemed impossible.

But the facts are there: these systems do indeed work, and crypto continues to establish itself in the global economic landscape.

• Ethereum has a capitalization of $293.5 billion;
• The transition to Proof-of-Stake reduced energy consumption by 99%;
• Vitalik Buterin has maintained a leadership role in key discussions on decentralization.

That’s not all: in addition to his technical contributions, Buterin has also advanced thinking on monetary economics, further strengthening his candidacy for a Nobel Prize. What better way to establish the credibility of crypto in the eyes of the general public?

And yet, in 2022, a crypto analyst reminded that a Nobel Prize in Economics laureate had already predicted the decline of this new industry. It remains to be seen if Vitalik Buterin can reverse this prophecy.