Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been awarded a medal by Liberland, a micronation founded by Tron’s Justin Sun. The recognition happened at the ETHPrague 2026 conference, where Buterin attended a Network State event sponsored by the self-declared country.
The medal is called the “First Class Order of Merit of the Star of Liberland.” Liberland’s leadership described it as their highest state distinction. They gave it to Buterin for his “extraordinary technical achievements” and for his work on “pop-up cities, decentralized societies, and network states.”
A Borrowed Name and a Missing Prime Minister
The medal’s name seems inspired by the Commonwealth’s Order of Merit, a century-old award given to people like Florence Nightingale. Notably, Justin Sun, who founded Tron and is Liberland’s elected prime minister, has not received this honor. He was elected in October 2024 and, according to the original report, has been re-elected seven times. I’m not sure how that timing works out, but the article says so.
When Sun first campaigned for the prime minister role, he talked about needing good ties with the US. He bragged about his investments in World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), a crypto project linked to Donald Trump. He also called US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff an ally. But those comments haven’t aged well. Witkoff’s son, Zach Witkoff, is a co-founder of $WLFI, and now there are reports that Sun is trying to “torch” the firm. Both sides are apparently suing each other.
Strange Updates and Unvisited Territory
Protos, the original source, also notes that Sun probably hasn’t even visited Liberland. The micronation has been busy with other news. Recently, they publicized that a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the Donbas region didn’t affect them. President Vít Jedlička said, “Every structure we build in Liberland is designed with events like this in mind.” That sounds serious, but the structures reportedly include a tent beach bar and a treehouse. So maybe not the most earthquake-proof setup.
