Satoshi’s Statue in Budapest: What Other Crypto Legends Deserve a Monument?

• The proposed statue in honour of Satoshi Nakamoto has been hailed by the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a move in the right direction.

• The statue is to be erected in Graphisoft Park, in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

• While the proposed monument has elicited commendations, there are other legends, aside from Nakamoto, equally deserving of a monument.

• Nick Szabo, Wei Dai, and David Chaum are each worthy of recognition for their stellar contributions to the field of cryptocurrency.

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, is set to be immortalized in the city of Budapest. A statue in his honour is in the works for the conception of Bitcoin, which laid the foundation for other cryptocurrencies to be launched.

Although he is undoubtedly a core catalyst to the cryptoverse, the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto is not the only one that deserves a monument to his name. Several early computer scientists, such as Nick Szabo, Wei Dai, and David Chaum, have all played a role in the creation of cryptocurrency, and have thus earned the “legend” status.

Nick Szabo

It is undeniable that Nick Szabo has attained veteran status in cryptocurrency circles, with his involvement in the sector going back as far as 1998, when he designed a prototype for a decentralized cryptocurrency, called Bit Gold.

Although Bit Gold was never launched, it has widely been described as the precursor to Bitcoin. Just like Bitcoin, Szabos Bit Gold involved participants using computer power to solve cryptographic puzzles.

Aside from his early work with cryptocurrencies, the computer scientist and legal scholar is also credited with the creation and naming of the concept of smart contracts. Today, smart contracts feature heavily across the cryptocurrency spectrum and it would not be out of place to say that a monument to Nick Szabo is arguably overdue.

Wei Dai

Wei Dai is a computer engineer that has contributed his fair share to the development of cryptocurrencies. He is credited to have developed the Crypto++ cryptographic library, and was an early crusader for the development of cryptocurrencies.

In 1998, he published a paper on “b-money” which was designed to be “an anonymous, distributed, electronic cash system.” B-money was of the utmost importance to the development of Bitcoin, as it exhibited all of the features of modern-day cryptos, and was referenced as such in Bitcoins whitepaper.

Furthermore, he co-proposed the VMAC message authentication algorithm, with the smallest subunit of Ether, Wei, subsequently being named after him in recognition. Wei Dai has certainly paid his dues and deserves a monument in his honour.

On the Flipside

• The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been shrouded in mystery as he “vanished” following the creation of the bitcoin network.

• Several people have been considered to be behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, with Wei Dai and Nick Szabo themselves being among those linked.

David Chaum

David Chaum is one of the earliest pioneers of crypto technology, and is often lauded as the creator of digital cash. His 1982 dissertation, “Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups,” laid the foundation for a blockchain protocol.

His dissertation is agreed to have been way ahead of its time, after it was found to contain all the elements that Bitcoin now possesses. In 1990, he founded Digicash, and, without a doubt, the exploits of Satoshi Nakamoto would have been nigh impossible without the groundwork David Chaum laid.