Does Satoshi Nakamoto deserve a Nobel Prize?

Alfred Nobel’s last will and testament created the Nobel Prize, which is considered one of the highest achievements a person can achieve in a given field. The prize is awarded to those who have brought “the greatest benefit” to humanity during the previous year.

This, of course (not only) in the cryptocurrency community, raises the question of whether BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto deserves the Nobel Prize.

Give the Nobel Prize to Satoshi!

Satoshi’s innovation in the form of BTC has shaken the entire financial industry, and to this day we can feel the reverberations of this unique act all over the world. BTC’s invention in 2009 gave birth to a $ 2 trillion industry that, by eliminating the need for intermediaries, changed the way we perceive money. Many industries, such as art, business, education, have taken advantage of this technology and initiated calls for the founder of this revolutionary technology to receive the Nobel Prize.

According to Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, he is the founder of BTC

“He deserves the Nobel Prize in Economics for the invention of BTC, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize for the invention of a monetary system that is not based on the threat of violence.”

One of the basic preconditions for the award is that it must “bring the greatest possible benefit to humanity” and the mass adoption of BTC and blockchain technology meets these criteria for the award of the Nobel Prize in Economics. The demand for the Peace Prize then depends on the fact that BTC as a currency to accept does not require violence. History is full of cases where fiat currency led to wars.

The Nobel Prize set the rules

Although many cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe that Satoshi Nakamoto deserves the Nobel Prize, several factors will stand in its way. First, the Nobel Prize in Economics requires that members of academies and university professors have nominated individuals, and most often nominated individuals are renowned academics in the field of economics. Apart from BTC white paper, there is no other academic document that can be attributed to Nakamoto.

In addition, there is an additional requirement that the winner be alive at the time of the award. However, this is quite tricky, because the last known communication of Satoshi Nakamoto took place more than 10 years ago. Nobel Prize winners are also expected to speak within 6 months of receiving the award. Needless to say, thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto’s unknown identity, the possible award of the Nobel Prize would be somewhat “unconventional.”

And one more spiciness comes to mind: given the volume of BTC that Satoshi Nakamoto owns, the financial reward associated with the Nobel Prize of SEK 9 million (which is, of course, divided among the laureates) would be “just” the funny icing on the story.

Conclusion

Although Satoshi Nakamoto may not receive the Nobel Prize for BTC and its contribution to humanity, the discussion about it can only be considered a fundamental shift towards global acceptance. It is a step that can provoke a huge wave of institutional interests and the emergence of positive regulations from governments around the world.