Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, is being put forward as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economics. This nomination came from Tyler Cowen in a podcast with fellow economist Alex Tabarrok.
Cowen praised Buterin for his contributions to the overall monetary system. According to him, Buterin’s work in building Ethereum, creating a new currency, and pushing boundaries in economic theory is simply unmatched.
Major technological milestones
Cowen compared Buterin’s work to that of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, pointing out that Buterin went beyond Nakamoto’s accomplishments.
“What does someone have to do to get a Nobel Prize?” he asked a hypothetical question.
Cowen and Tabarrok also discussed Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. This changed the way transactions are validated on the Ethereum blockchain was a massive technical challenge.
Tabarrok likened it to:
“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.”
Ethereum, launched in December 2013, was designed to do more than Bitcoin could.
While Bitcoin was limited to being a digital currency, Ethereum’s platform supported decentralized applications (dApps) and financial tools.
Cowen believes that the transition to PoS without interrupting operations was an incredible feat that deserves recognition on the world stage, specifically a Nobel Prize.
The discussion also touched on Buterin’s personality, with Cowen describing him as “super polite.” He said Buterin would be “wonderful at the ceremony” if awarded.
Buterin’s philanthropic activities and meme coins
Buterin’s reputation goes beyond just tech genius. He’s known for his philanthropic endeavors too. On October 7, he sold 10 billion MOODENG tokens for 308.69 ETH, which was valued at around $762,000 at the time.
He didn’t keep all the money for himself though. Buterin donated 260 ETH, valued at approximately $642,000, to Kanro, a charity dedicated to fighting airborne diseases.
This led to the coin skyrocketing 480% within 24 hours after the news went viral on social media.
Buterin still has 40 billion MOODENG tokens left, worth over $8 million. The Ethereum creator has said repeatedly that he appreciates memecoins that contribute to charities directly because anything that gets sent to him gets donated anyway.
Buterin believes meme tokens can be structured within Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), allowing communities to collectively decide how to distribute funds.
Last month, he took center stage at the TOKEN2049 event in Singapore, where he delivered a keynote speech and even performed a song for the crowd.
Buterin warned against the risks of a divided ecosystem, saying, “The fundamental challenge is to ensure that all projects build something that resembles a single Ethereum ecosystem.”
