Before Blockchain: Was the Nobel Prize the World’s First Non-Fungible Token?

An Unlikely Parallel: Prestige, Pixels, and the Nature of Value

In the fast-paced world of financial technology, new concepts often feel entirely unprecedented. The rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)—unique digital assets verified on a blockchain—seemed to herald a new era of ownership and value. But what if the core idea isn’t new at all? What if one of the world’s most prestigious and traditional accolades, the Nobel Prize, has been operating on the same principles for over a century?

This provocative idea was recently floated in a letter to the Financial Times by Marit Rødevand, CEO of Strise. She argues that the Nobel Prize is, in essence, the original NFT. It’s a non-transferable, unique “token” of achievement that confers immense value upon its recipient. This comparison is more than just a clever analogy; it’s a powerful lens through which we can re-examine our understanding of value, scarcity, and prestige in both the old-world economy and the burgeoning digital frontier.

This article will unpack that comparison, exploring the surprising parallels between the hallowed halls of Stockholm and the decentralized world of blockchain. We’ll delve into the economics of intangible assets and consider what this tells us about the future of investing, finance, and how we define what is truly priceless.

First, A Refresher: What Exactly is an NFT?

Before drawing parallels, it’s crucial to understand what we’re talking about. At its core, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. While a dollar bill or a Bitcoin is fungible (one is identical to and can be replaced by another), an NFT is one-of-a-kind, like the original Mona Lisa.

Key characteristics of an NFT include:

• Uniqueness: Each NFT has a distinct identity and cannot be replicated.
• Provenance: The history of ownership is transparently and immutably recorded on a public ledger (the blockchain). Anyone can trace it back to its origin.
• Ownership: It provides verifiable proof of ownership of a digital (or sometimes physical) asset.

The NFT market exploded into public consciousness in 2021, with headline-grabbing sales like the digital artist Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” which sold for an astonishing $69.3 million at Christie’s. While the initial hype has cooled, the underlying financial technology continues to evolve, promising new applications for everything from digital art and collectibles to event ticketing and intellectual property rights.

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The Enduring Aura of the Nobel Prize

Established in the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, the Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields it covers: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Prize in Economic Sciences was established later in his memory. Its value extends far beyond the monetary prize, which in 2023 was set at 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million).

The true value of the Nobel is intangible. It’s a globally recognized symbol of supreme intellectual achievement. It can define a career, open doors to funding and collaboration, and cement a laureate’s place in history. Crucially, this honor is non-transferable. A laureate cannot sell, trade, or bequeath their status as a Nobel winner. It is uniquely and permanently tied to them and their specific achievement. This is where the comparison to a “non-fungible” asset becomes incredibly compelling.

The Grand Analogy: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Let’s break down the core argument by directly comparing the attributes of a Nobel Prize and a classic NFT. The similarities—and the crucial differences—are illuminating.

As the table shows, the core concepts of uniqueness, verifiable provenance, and non-interchangeability are central to both. The Nobel Committee acts as a centralized, trusted authority that “mints” the award, while a blockchain serves as a decentralized, trustless authority that mints an NFT. Both systems are designed to solve the same fundamental problem: how to certify that something is the one and only original.

The most significant divergence is in transferability and the nature of its market. The Nobel’s value is locked to its recipient, making its prestige priceless precisely because it cannot be priced. An NFT’s value, conversely, is realized almost exclusively through its price in a market. This highlights a fascinating tension in the economics of value: does an asset become more valuable when it can be traded, or when it absolutely cannot?

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The Economics of Intangible Value in the Modern Economy

This discussion is not merely academic; it strikes at the heart of the modern economy. For decades, economists and investors have grappled with how to value intangible assets. In the context of the stock market, a company’s value is often far greater than its physical assets (factories, inventory). It’s the intangibles—brand reputation, intellectual property, customer data, and goodwill—that drive growth and command premium valuations.

According to a 2021 report, intangible assets now make up 90% of the S&P 500’s total asset value, a stunning reversal from the 1970s when they represented less than 20%. The Nobel/NFT analogy provides two different models for how this intangible value is created and sustained:

1. The “Prestige” Model (Nobel): Value is built slowly over decades through consistent, high-quality curation by a trusted central authority. It is scarce, non-tradable, and derives its power from universal social consensus. Think of the brand value of companies like Apple or Coca-Cola.
2. The “Network” Model (NFT): Value is created rapidly through decentralized community agreement and network effects. It is tradable, speculative, and derives its power from the collective belief of its participants. This is reflective of the value of social media platforms or cryptocurrencies.

Understanding these models is critical for anyone involved in investing or business leadership. The rise of blockchain and tokenization is creating new ways to quantify, own, and trade intangible value that were previously illiquid or impossible to price.

Implications for the Future of Finance and Fintech

The conceptual link between a Nobel and an NFT is a signpost for the future of finance. The core innovation of fintech is not just about making old processes faster; it’s about creating entirely new markets and asset classes. The “tokenization of everything” is a trend that is just getting started.

Here’s what this means for key sectors:

• Banking & Asset Management: Financial institutions are exploring how to tokenize traditional assets like real estate, art, and private equity. This could make illiquid assets divisible and tradable, democratizing access for smaller investors and creating new opportunities for trading.
• Intellectual Property: Musicians, writers, and inventors could use NFTs to represent ownership of their work, enabling them to collect royalties automatically via smart contracts and trade fractions of their future earnings.
• Credentials and Identity: As mentioned in the editor’s note, educational degrees, professional licenses, and other certifications could be issued as non-transferable NFTs, creating a secure and easily verifiable record of achievement that combats fraud.

However, the path forward is not without challenges. Regulatory uncertainty, the high energy consumption of some blockchains (though many are moving to more efficient systems like Proof-of-Stake (source)), and market volatility remain significant hurdles. The key will be to harness the transparency and security of the technology while building sustainable models of value that move beyond pure speculation.

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Conclusion: The Timeless Quest for Verifiable Value

Marit Rødevand’s observation that the Nobel Prize is the original NFT is a brilliant insight. It demystifies the world of digital assets by grounding it in a concept we have understood for over a century: that unique, verifiable recognition holds immense power. The Nobel Prize proves that a non-tradable “token” of achievement can create incalculable value, while NFTs prove that a tradable token of ownership can create a market for nearly anything.

Ultimately, both the hallowed Nobel and the hyped NFT are expressions of a fundamental human need: to create, certify, and celebrate unique value. One does it with institutional gravity and the weight of history; the other does it with cryptographic certainty and the speed of the internet. As our world becomes increasingly digital, the lines between these two models will continue to blur, reshaping our entire economy and our very definition of what is worth having.