Vitalik Buterin on his way to a Nobel Prize in economics

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

The founder of Ethereum: A misunderstood genius?

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

Ethereum price at the time of writing: $2,433.

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

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

A real feat when you know that it was like changing the wheels of a car in the middle of a race.

Crypto: A revolution underestimated by the traditional economy

In a world where crypto still remains mysterious to some traditional economists, Buterin proves that this technology is much more than just a craze. Professors Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarro, discussing potential Nobel laureates, pointed out that Bitcoin and Ethereum, if imagined in advance, would have seemed impossible.

But the facts are there: these systems do 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 maintained a leadership role in key discussions on decentralization.

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

However, in 2022, a crypto analyst recalled that a Nobel Prize winner in economics was already predicting the decline of this new industry. It remains to be seen whether Vitalik Buterin can reverse this prophecy.