Creator of BitCoin Nominated for Nobel Prize. But Does Anyone Know Who He Is?

 The inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has been nominated for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Satoshi Nakamoto is the name given to the person who invented the ubiquitous BitCoin currency.

Whether individuals and governments see it as the future of some sort of non regulated economic personification of personal freedom, or the grease on which the Dark Web flows, it’s still one of the stand out financial inventions of the 21^st century so far.

Perhaps that’s why UCLA Professor of Finance Bhagwan Chowdhry has nominated Nakamoto for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Chowdhry, was invited by the Nobel Prize committee to nominate someone for the 2016 prize.  But after quickly running through he considered to be the usual suspects, he began looking around for someone who had contributed a ‘disruptive influence in the twenty first century.’

Chowdhry claimed that only one name came to mind. That name was Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged inventor of cryptocurrency, BitCoin.

Chowdrhy admitted that Nakamoto was at best a long shot. ‘Outsiders,’ rarely tend to win Nobel prizes. But Chowdhry is adamant that his nomination of Nakamoto is a valid choice.

 “The invention of bitcoin, a digital currency,  is nothing short of revolutionary…. It is digital and exists purely as a mathematical object. It offers many advantages over both physical and paper currencies… and can be transferred securely and nearly instantaneously from one person to any other person in the world with access to internet bypassing governments, central banks and financial intermediaries such as Visa, MasterCard, Paypal or commercial banks eliminating time delays and transactions costs.”

The problem?

No one actually knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is. While Nakamoto is the name attributed to the invention of the cryptocurrency, it is in fact a pseudonym.  It always has been, and it nothing looks like that’s going to change any time soon.

Despite some rather intensive searches over the years no one is still any wiser about the identity of the mysterious BitCoin inventor.

Quite how the Nobel committee will deal with the nomination will be nothing compared to how they will contact or  hand the prize over to someone who doesn’t exist, should Nakamoto win.

Chowdhry has already considered a solution to the problem though.

“…I would be happy to go and accept the Prize on his behalf. What about the acceptance speech? That won’t be any problem either. He can write his speech, digitally sign it and send it to me securely. I would, of course, rehearse and deliver it on his behalf at the Prize ceremony.”

Phew. Crisis averted.

Not that Nakamoto will probably miss the prize money. Nakamoto is a smart cookie. As well as inventing BitCoin, he is reputed to have several hundred million dollars worth of the cryptocurrency in his possession, whoever, and wherever he is.