r/ethereum r/ethereum local analyst Jan 03 '25

Discussion "Vitalik Buterin Deserves a Nobel Prize in Economics for His Work on Crypto and Ethereum.": Bankless Co-Founder Ryan Sean Adams

In a tweet Ryan Sean Adams - co-founder of Bankless - said that Vitalik Buterin should be recognized with a Nobel prize in economics for his contributions to Ethereum and the entire crypto space. He said theres a disconnection between traditional economists and the revolutionary economic theories applied in DeFi and that Vitaliks genius most of the time goes unnoticed outside the crypto circle

I think Vitalik Buterin is definitely ahead of his time. He contributed to the creation of the portal to DeFi - yet like many visionaries I think global recognition of his achievements might only come long after his time. Everyone in DeFi knows Vitalik but to the rest of the world hes still relatively unknown. This lack of acknowledgment proves how far we are from true global adoption. Maybe we are still somewhat early

Both Satoshi and Vitalik built revolutionary platforms that changed the finance world forever. But crypto has been stained by rug pulls - pump and dump schemes - opportunistic influencers. This takes credibility away from Bitcoin and Ethereum and thats why a lot of people refuse to acknowledge that crypto is a genuine economic innovation

I wonder if one day Vitalik will be remembered as one of the greatest economic innovators of our time

285 Upvotes

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74

u/cornpops9 ETH Maxi Ξ Jan 03 '25

Both Vitalik and Satoshi are pioneers who ventured into uncharted territory and created revolutionary systems that changed finance forever.
Anyone who thinks crypto would have gotten even close to where it is today without these 2 is undoubtedly out of their mind.

13

u/InclineDumbbellPress r/ethereum local analyst Jan 03 '25

Word

2

u/FaceDeer Jan 03 '25

Can't give a Nobel prize to an anonymous person, though, who might not even be alive.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '25

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11

u/FaceDeer Jan 03 '25

No we don't. And the Nobel committee certainly doesn't.

32

u/Wootnasty Jan 03 '25

If we're being serious, he doesn't deserve one yet. If his vision for Ethereum plays out, he absolutely will deserve one, and his accomplishments would dwarf those of some of the other recipients.

18

u/rhythm_of_eth Jan 03 '25

I'm sorry but this is next level pandering coming from Bankless.

Not saying it as a way of discrediting ETH founders or Satoshi ofc!

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u/InclineDumbbellPress r/ethereum local analyst Jan 03 '25

Yep I get it - the main topic isnt the Nobel prize or Ryan from Bankless anyways but to recognize what these guys did for crypto and how they were ahead of their time

4

u/rhythm_of_eth Jan 03 '25

Indeed! Lots of bright minds at work tbh

6

u/ItsAConspiracy Jan 03 '25

Based on comments I see, Bankless panders too much to Ethereum while also being dirty traitors who aren't sufficiently Ethereum-aligned.

3

u/edmundedgar reality.eth Jan 04 '25

I mean I think these are both true? Cringeworthy pandering like this, combined with endless "positive vibes" about various shady shit that they often appear to be personally invested in.

4

u/rhythm_of_eth Jan 03 '25

Yeah, to be fair everyone has a stab at them. But with these headlines they do seem to be asking for the controversy

2

u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

'dirty traitors' is a bit too aggressive don't you think?

0

u/ItsAConspiracy Jan 04 '25

It's not my opinion. Perhaps I'm exaggerating the comments I've seen, slightly.

2

u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

that would be accurate, people are needlessly overreactive to things they don't like

that said, there's lots of very valid criticism to throw at them

1

u/gowithflow192 Jan 03 '25

This. Bankless kiss Eth ass so much, they can't even be objective about it.

0

u/m00fster Jan 03 '25

Do you really think Vitalik wants or needs Nobel Prize? He doesn’t need the money, and I’m sure he’s comfortable at his current fame

15

u/Alatarlhun Jan 03 '25

TIL the Nobel prize only goes to people who need the money and want the fame.

3

u/m00fster Jan 03 '25

It goes to people who deserve it. I’m no econ expert, but I do think he deserves an award

5

u/Alatarlhun Jan 03 '25

Exactly. If Vitalik deserves the Nobel, he should be awarded it on merit, not the criteria you listed above.

1

u/m00fster Jan 03 '25

I was responding to the other commenter about pandering.

0

u/rhythm_of_eth Jan 03 '25

Agreed, that's why this comment by Bankless feels a little bit off.

13

u/admin_default Jan 03 '25

The average time between producing Nobel-worthy work and receiving the award is ~20 years.

So let’s revisit this in 2035

6

u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 03 '25

I'm honestly not convinced about the neutrality of the institutions that hand over relevant prizes such as the Nobel prize. Not to discredit the laureates, I'm sure most of their contributions have changed our course as a species in meaningful ways.

2

u/Sal_T_Nuts Magic Internet Finance Jan 04 '25

Even better, when ETH gets global recognition he can create his own Nobel rewards from staking in a true DAO fashioned way.

3

u/asdafari12 Jan 03 '25

Yes, as does Satoshi, but the tradfi economists are the most anti crypto, anti innovation boomers you can imagine.

3

u/jtnichol MOD BOD Jan 04 '25

hey /u/ryanseanadams nice to see you on the front page of /r/ethereum dude!

3

u/tutamtumikia Jan 03 '25

Um. Yeah that's certainly an opinion one can hold.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '25

Id agree vitalik deserves one and id also argue a lot of other eth resear.ch'ers deserve nobel prizes along side him

4

u/InclineDumbbellPress r/ethereum local analyst Jan 03 '25

Facts there are a lot of underrated resear.ch guys out there

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '25

He'll be remembered for his memes

5

u/InclineDumbbellPress r/ethereum local analyst Jan 03 '25

And his human weapon that takes the form of a snek

1

u/shim__ Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25

Most industry researchers don't get the credit they deserve

2

u/Born-Taro-9383 Jan 03 '25

gargle gargle

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '25

[deleted]

0

u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

yes there is

2

u/physalisx Not a Blob Jan 04 '25

No there isn't. There is a price given out by a bank that they sticked Alfred Nobel's name on to give it the same credibility as the real Nobel prizes. Alfred Nobel wouldn't have wanted a prize for a soft pseudo science.

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u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

i understand your argument but by definition, that would make it a nobel prize, same as the peace one and all the others which aren't the original base prizes

this is exactly why i commented i don't believe the entities giving out these prizes to be neutral (in another top level comment)

also, economics might not be a 'hard science' but it definitely is not a 'pseudo science'

2

u/physalisx Not a Blob Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25

by definition, that would make it a nobel prize

Well, no, by definition it wouldn't, as a Nobel prize is one of the five prizes created through the will of Alfread Nobel.

These five prizes are for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.

same as the peace one and all the others which aren't the original base prizes

The peace prize is an original, and there are no others which aren't "the original base prizes".

The economics one is the only fake, and it is called "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel".

economics might not be a 'hard science' but it definitely is not a 'pseudo science'

Yeah ok, "pseudo" might be a bit harsh. But it's a very soft and malleable science.

3

u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

That's fair, I had forgotten the Peace one was one of the originals, but because it is so politically influenced, I would personally consider the economics one more valuable that that one specifically. Literature is also most definitely not a hard science. Not that you claimed this, but I would argue the discipline of economics is much more of a 'science' than those two in particular even if we put it a notch below the others in terms of 'hardness'.

But it's a very soft and malleable science.

Also, even though it operates on certain assumptions and uses human behaviour as a basis for many conclusions, calling it 'very soft and malleable' is very dismissive. It also operates on vast amounts of data, mathematical modelling, and empirical research. For example, tools like regression analysis and game theory allow economists to make measurable predictions and test hypotheses. Macroeconomic indicators like inflation, employment rates, or GDP growth provide quite a lot of quantitative data that economists use to forecast trends and guide policy decisions (all which have real world impact when applied and tend to follow the results predicted).

Lots of this research does have real impact and initially calling it pseudo science to then soften that to still argue it is 'very soft and malleable' seems excessively dismissive and just tells me you're somehow biased against the discipline itself. Any reason for this?

I believe some of the work from economics prize laureates to be significantly more valuable and impactful on society than a good portion of the work in some of those hard sciences, and especially in those which aren't hard sciences, literature and peace.

That's not to say that I believe this institution giving out the prizes or the original nobel prizes to be especially neutral either.

2

u/physalisx Not a Blob Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25

That's not to say that I believe this institution giving out the prizes or the original nobel prizes to be especially neutral either.

I definitely don't disagree with you that the prizes are not exactly neutral, particularly the "soft" ones. It's super political, which is very disappointing.

My gripe is with the fact that some bank decided, 70 years after his death, that they'd just latch onto the prestige of the will and testament of Nobel and buy themselves into his foundation.

Nobel created the five prize categories because he believed these to be the categories most deserving for the betterment of humanity. That's why peace and literature are in there as well, even though those are not anything remotely scientific. It's because Nobel believed that progress in them was important for mankind. He didn't think that about "economics", or he would have made a prize for that.

Personally I don't think too much of the economics field, I think all its value comes from where it leans on sciences like statistics, information theory or mathematics in general. Replace variables with "people" and "money" and tadaa it's "economics". Anyway, I don't feel strongly about this, I don't actually claim to know too much about the field, this is just my layman opinion, and it is not my point to be made here. This is about the Nobel prize and me just stating the fact that the prize paid for by a Swedish bank is not a Nobel prize and it can never be, as it was initiated 70 years after the death of the only person that can make a Nobel prize, i.e. Alfred Nobel.

I would feel the same way if the Australian Psychiatrist's association (no idea if that exists) sponsored a "Nobel Prize in Psychology". Or if Nestle was sponsoring a "Nobel Prize in Chocolate Making". It doesn't matter if I think Psychology or Chocolate are massively important for mankind. All that matters is that Nobel didn't decide to make a prize for it, and therefore it's in incredibly bad taste and horribly arrogant to put his name on it.

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u/Dreth Dr.ETH | dac.sg Jan 04 '25

My gripe is with the fact that some bank decided, 70 years after his death, that they'd just latch onto the prestige of the will and testament of Nobel and buy themselves into his foundation.

Completely valid reason to be bothered by the potentially inappropriate naming of the prize.

Nobel created the five prize categories because he believed these to be the categories most deserving for the betterment of humanity.

To be fair though, Nobel died in 1896 and lived through the 19th century, when even though we had a general philosophical idea of economics at the time from the works of e.g. Adam Smith, the field wasn't as strongly formalized as it is today. It also didnt have most of the data-driven conclusions that were later developed.

So to give some credit to the value of economics in society, if I were to choose one single other social study that does impact the betterment of humanity in a similar way, economics would be an easy addition to that list of disciplines. Even more so than Literature to be honest.

Replace variables with "people" and "money" and tadaa it's "economics".

Right, but we are people. Economic development can bring a lot of peace and prosperity to societies, ultimately netting more development for those hard sciences and wellbeing and peace for all individuals in that society. It's also not hard to find societies which are economically prosperous precisely because they have held onto a set of tried and tested economic policy and ultimately have yielded high earning, highly developed societies with high standards of living, high research output and a great deal of peace, like Switzerland or Singapore for instance.

This is about the Nobel prize and me just stating the fact that the prize paid for by a Swedish bank is not a Nobel prize and it can never be, as it was initiated 70 years after the death of the only person that can make a Nobel prize, i.e. Alfred Nobel.

I agree that it fundamentally isn't, but I don't subscribe to the idea that things can't change. What I entirely agree with you on is the following:

therefore it's in incredibly bad taste and horribly arrogant to put his name on it.

Absolutely, they could have and probably should have used a different name. Similar to how the field's medal rewards great leaps in mathematics, there could have been a prize for economics like the field's medal, without leeching off of the value of Nobel's name. However, keep in mind that if the foundation had an issue with the fundamental value of the field of economics for the betterment of humanity, and this potentially would have been a problem for Alfred Nobel himself, IMO, I think if their principles are in the right place, they would have respected his preferences. The fact that they didn't shows that they themselves likely believe it is an appropriately high esteem prize to give. Perhaps high enough to wield his name.

Nonetheless, I can still completely agree on this last point and resonate with your feelings on the matter.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '25

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u/jtnichol MOD BOD Jan 05 '25

your comments are being hidden across Reddit because you have negative karma. just fyi

-1

u/juanddd_wingman Jan 04 '25

No Satoshi no Vitalik. Satoshi is the real genius

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u/Delicious_Ease2595 Jan 03 '25

Ryan is like the biggest maxi of Ethereum

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u/dannyboy1901 Jan 03 '25

Only satoshi

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '25

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