Anti-capitalists love the old canard that "science cannot be monetized so we need government funding of science." Although many free-market proponents realize this is actually a
total myth, when it comes to rarefied subjects like pure mathematics even the staunchest AnCap may flounder in arguing that the market will provide.
For millennia, the best minds alive have assumed that there is no way to monetize mathematical innovation, other than by pure charity, since there is almost never profit motive behind mathematical research. It's too basic, too removed from real-world applications.
Primecoin changes this. It's now profitable to search for prime chains. This is unprecedented in the history of mankind.
