- Charles Hoskinson believes that the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, deserves to get a Nobel Prize in Economics for transforming finance and data.
- In 2015, Nakamoto was proposed by an American senior academic but the Nobel team rejected the proposal simply because Nakamoto is anonymous.
The cryptocurrency market is today worth $1.57 trillion, with the number of cryptocurrencies in its thousands and steadily growing. Blockchain technology has become an industry of its own as well, with every other sector applying it in one way or another. All this is down to one man – Satoshi Nakamoto, the man (or woman, or group of people, or even a robot from the future) who gave us Bitcoin. And according to Charles Hoskinson, Satoshi deserves a Nobel Prize in Economics for his contribution to humanity.
Satoshi is a pseudonym that the Bitcoin inventor decided to use to mask his identity. Pseudonyms are common on the Internet, but when the invention is worth over a trillion dollars, this is a rarity. Even more conspicuous is that just a few years after launching Bitcoin, he vanished, never to be heard from again. (Jimmy Song believes that it’s because Satoshi was a time-traveling robot from the future but due to “some weird Supanova that interfered” he was cut off in 2010, but that’s for another day).
In a recent interview, Hoskinson stated that he believes Satoshi is deserving of the Nobel Prize.
Satoshi Nakamoto should be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) June 17, 2021
If Satoshi doxed himself – and I don’t think it’s possible anymore – but if he or she did that, that’s like a Nobel Prize in Economics. You’re on the shortlist for that. And there’s enormous accolades that would come beyond the monetary incentives of being able to dox yourself.
ALSO READ: Charles Hoskinson trashes Bitcoin, urges Elon Musk to look into Cardano
Nobel Committee: We would consider Satoshi, but we don’t know who he is
Hoskinson isn’t the first person to nominate Satoshi for the Nobel Prize. This prestigious award goes to outstanding individuals who are changing the course of humanity, in physics, literature, chemistry, medicine and more.
In 2016, Dr. Bhagwan Chowdhry, Professor of Finance at UCLA nominated Satoshi for the Nobel Prize in Economics. However, the Nobel Committee rejected the proposal, claiming that they can’t give the award to an anonymous recipient.
Following the rejection, the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, which issues the award stated in a press release, “The prize, as in this instance, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is never awarded anonymously nor posthumously.”
Dr. Chowdry was quick to issue a rebuttal. He told the committee that he would accept the prize on behalf of Satoshi. As for the monetary award, which comes to about $1.3 million, he suggested converting into BTC and sending it to Satoshi’s most likely address.
Satoshi Nakamoto has already declined the Nobel Prize, and all other possible recognition, by staying anonymous. Bringing financial inclusion, sovereignty, and hope to billions around the world with #Bitcoin was enough of an award itself for Satoshi.
— Documenting Bitcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) June 17, 2021
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
The committee is unlikely to change its stance to accommodate Satoshi, despite Bitcoin – and other cryptos – changing the lives of millions of people. However, if it ever did and Satoshi received it, it would revive the hottest debate in crypto: who is Satoshi Nakamoto.
Almost everyone in the crypto community has his/her own idea about who Satoshi is, from the CIA to Elon Musk to Craig Wright and more. For Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum creator, the answer lied with Hal Finney. Finney was one of the first people to get into Bitcoin, including being the first Bitcoin recipient, which he received from Satoshi himself.
One possibility is that it’s Hal Finney because he was also active in the Bitcoin community… If he wasn’t Satoshi, he’d probably know.
Unfortunately, Finney succumbed to complications of ALS in 2014 and is cryopreserved in Arizona.
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