Economist Who Called Bitcoin 'Revolutionary' Among Favorites for 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics

Susan Athey, an economics professor at Stanford University, is among the top favorites to win the Nobel Prize in Economics for 2026. The award ceremony is scheduled for next Monday (12).

Although the economist is not being considered for the prize for research related to Bitcoin, she published a study on the cryptocurrency in 2016 after three years of work. Additionally, she taught a cryptocurrency course at Stanford in 2018. "This course will provide an overview of the rapidly evolving area of distributed ledgers and blockchain technologies, focusing on economic and strategic issues. We will cover the key components of the architecture that influence cryptocurrency-derived products. Then, we will analyze tokens as a store of value and medium of exchange, examining cryptocurrency pricing models and their use as a capital-raising instrument." Susan Athey, one of the leading candidates for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics, has taught about cryptocurrencies at Stanford. Source: Stanford/Rep.

Economist Focused on Researching Digitalization Economics and Artificial Intelligence

The week of Nobel Prize announcements for 2026 began on Monday (5) with the Medicine category, followed by Physics on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday, Literature today, and Peace on Friday. The winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced next Monday (12), concluding the awards season.

One of the main candidates for the Economics prize is Susan Athey, primarily due to her contributions in market design, auction theory, and econometrics.

On Polymarket, the economist has an 11% betting chance of winning the Nobel, trailing behind Ariel Pakes and Michael Woodford, but ahead of Richard Blundell, Robert Barro, and 12 other names. Susan Athey, who has taught about cryptocurrencies and written a study on Bitcoin, is among the favorites to win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics. Source: Polymarket/Rep.

Other pages analyzing various points and mentioning other names place her in second position. Athey is among the favorites to win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics. Source: Quarterly Systems/Rep.

Economist is Part of Ripple (XRP) Board and Has Called Bitcoin a Revolutionary Technology

Currently, Athey's personal page at Stanford University indicates that her current research focuses on the economics of digitalization and the intersection of causal inference and artificial intelligence.

"As one of the first 'technology economists', she served for six years as chief consulting economist for Microsoft Corporation and has been on the boards of various private and publicly traded technology companies."

On her LinkedIn, Athey notes that she joined Ripple, the developer of the cryptocurrency XRP, the fifth largest in the market, in 2013 as a consultant. She later joined the project's Board of Directors in 2014.

On her page, the economist also highlights her teachings on cryptocurrencies at Stanford University. The 2026 Nobel Prize candidate joined Ripple back in 2013. Source: LinkedIn/Rep.

Regarding Bitcoin, the researcher has called the cryptocurrency "revolutionary" in a conversation dated 2014.

"I see Bitcoin as a truly revolutionary new technology that, in a way, should have emerged a long time ago. But in the financial world, we are still basically operating with decades-old technology... So what I consider really revolutionary about this whole movement of mathematically-based currencies is that people have figured out a way for me to send a valuable item from one entity to another securely, almost instantly, and without an intermediary. The beauty of a new currency, which is part of a virtual currency protocol, is that what I am transferring from me to you is just a record in a public and secure ledger. And that ledger is maintained by a set of computers that communicate with each other using a protocol. So I don't have to worry about a bank giving me a promise of payment and then taking that promise and delivering it to another bank. Instead, if I make a transaction using virtual currency, it will just be a record in the ledger. Therefore, I don't need an intermediary.

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