Justin Sun’s micronation Liberland has awarded Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin a star-shaped medal, calling it “its highest state distinction.” The award, officially named the “First Class Order of Merit of the Star of Liberland,” was presented to Buterin during ETHPrague 2026, where he attended a Network State event sponsored by the micronation.
Liberland stated the medal recognizes Buterin’s “extraordinary technical achievements” and “his role in advancing new ideas about how societies can organize themselves.” It also praised him for giving attention to “pop-up cities, decentralized societies, and network states.” The medal’s name seems inspired by the Commonwealth’s Order of Merit, a century-old award honoring figures like Florence Nightingale.
Notably absent from the recipients list is Tron founder Justin Sun. Though Sun has never received this award, he has been elected prime minister of Liberland since October 2024—and has been re-elected seven times since. When he first applied, Sun stressed the importance of maintaining ties with the US and boasted about investments in Trump-linked crypto firm World Liberty Financial ($WLFI). He also touted US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff as an ally.
Relations sour with Sun
Those statements haven’t aged well. Witkoff’s son and $WLFI co-founder, Zach Witkoff, is now accusing Sun of trying to “torch” the firm. Both sides have launched lawsuits against each other. Protos also notes that Sun likely hasn’t set foot in Liberland yet.
Micronation touts earthquake readiness
Liberland recently publicized that it wasn’t affected by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the Donbas region. President Vít Jedlička said, “Every structure we build in Liberland is designed with events like this in mind.” Those structures include a tent beach bar and a treehouse.
