The Nobel Peace Prize and/or the Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences should be awarded to Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto, argue MIT research scientist Lex Fridman and other Bitcoin supporters.
Podcast host Lex Fridman tweeted this argument three days after it was announced that the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022 Peace Prize to one person and two organisations: human rights defender Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, Russian human rights organisation Memorial and Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties.
In addition, Fridman's tweet came on the day the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Three US economists have been awarded the prize for their work on bank runs: Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig.
"Their discoveries improved how society deals with financial crises." the Academy said.
It added that the trio's "analyses have been of great practical importance in regulating financial markets and dealing with financial crises."
But the Cryptoverse argued that Nakamoto should have been awarded for his contribution to the world, claiming he is the most deserving candidate. On the other hand, as for this year's winner, crypto-artist Lucho Poleti noted on Tuesday that Ben Bernanke in 2008 "printed money to bail out banks that proliferated a subprime debt bubble that led to a global financial crisis."
Others, however, argued that a Nobel Prize is not the way to honour Nakamoto, as it is a prize that rewards problematic legacy institutions.
That said, this year is not the first time the idea of giving Nakamoto a Nobel Prize has been proposed, far from it. It has been discussed for years, and some, such as UCLA Anderson School of Finance professor Bhagwan Chowdhry, wrote in 2015 about whether the Bitcoin creator should be nominated for it and on what basis.
Fridman also tweeted the idea in June 2021, and Bitcoin bull and former CEO of IT firm MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, shared that tweet, arguing that Nakamoto should be rewarded for both inventing Bitcoin and "inventing a monetary system that does not rest on the threat of violence."
Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano said Nakamoto should receive the award in 2019.
However, it is unlikely that an anonymous person could receive the Prize, according to the Nobel Prize FAQ page. As one person discussing this posted on a forum in 2012: "The Nobel Prize can only be awarded to a living person. And since it can never be determined whether an anonymous person is alive, I guess you can't award a Nobel Prize to an anonymous entity".
Meanwhile, in an attempt to honour Nakamoto, a year ago a statue was unveiled in Budapest, Hungary's capital. Created by Hungarian sculptors Tamas Gilly and Reka Gergely, the statue's hooded head is covered by a reflective surface that resembles a mirror, suggesting that all Bitcoin enthusiasts can see themselves in Satoshi's face.