Vitalik Buterin has been awarded the prestigious IT software prize at the 2014 World Technology Awards, beating out the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and others.
The Ethereum inventor and co-founder received the award at a ceremony held last week in New York, and joins the illustrious circle of recipients nominated by the World Technology Network each year.
The prize marks a further achievement for Buterin this year. In July, he benefitted from a Thiel Fellowship, a US$100,000 maintenance grant to allow him to further progress in his start-up projects, including Ethereum.
His latest triumph is all the more conspicuous due to his defeating of Facebook founder Zuckerberg, who was also nominated for the IT software prize. Zuckerberg last year continued his innovation outside the realms of Facebook with Internet.org, a project aimed at connecting the 5 billion people without Internet access to the world economy.
But while Zuckerberg has weathered significant public criticism, the Ethereum project is still very much in its infancy, and Buterin has given few hints as to what the future holds for its full integration on the world stage.
David Mondrus, CEO of Blockchain Factory, offered the following comment:
“The visibility that this award will create will increase the interest in the Ethereum project specifically and in Bitcoin in general. Frankly I can't think of anyone in this market space (or even other market spaces) who deserves it more.”
Roger Ver, CEO and Founder of Memorydealers.com, also commented:
“It is great to see members of the Bitcoin community getting the recognition they deserve from members of the IT community that are not directly involved with Blockchain technology. I think we will see more main stream recognition of the great minds involved with Bitcoin in the coming years.”
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