Vitalik Buterin Receives Liberland’s Top Medal

Justin Sun’s self-proclaimed micronation Liberland has awarded Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin its highest honor. The “First Class Order of Merit of the Star of Liberland” was presented during ETHPrague 2026. Buterin attended a Network State event sponsored by the micronation at the time.

The Liberland government stated the medal recognizes Buterin’s “extraordinary technical achievements.” They also cited “his role in advancing new ideas about how societies can organize themselves.” Officials specifically praised his attention to topics like pop-up cities, decentralized societies, and network states.

The medal’s name seems to borrow from the Commonwealth’s Order of Merit. That century-old award recognizes distinguished service from figures such as Florence Nightingale.

Sun Misses Out on Honor

One notable person who hasn’t received this distinction is Tron founder Justin Sun. Sun has been elected prime minister of Liberland back in October 2024. He has been re-elected seven times since then. When he first applied, Sun emphasized maintaining strong ties with the U.S. He boasted about his investments in the Trump-linked crypto firm World Liberty Financial, or $WLFI. He also praised U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff as an ally.

These statements haven’t aged well. Zach Witkoff, Steve Witkoff’s son and $WLFI co-founder, now claims Sun is trying to “torch” the firm. This comes as $WLFI and Sun launch lawsuits against each other. I should also note that Protos reports Sun probably hasn’t set foot in Liberland yet.

Micronation’s Recent News

Beyond courting crypto executives, Liberland has made other headlines. The micronation recently publicized that it wasn’t affected by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the nearby Donbas region. President Vít Jedlička noted that “every structure we build in Liberland is designed with events like this in mind.” These structures apparently include a tent beach bar and a treehouse.

The post Vitalik Buterin Receives Liberland’s Top Medal appeared first on TheCryptoUpdates.