The University of Basel has granted an honorary doctorate to Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin, according to an official statement on the university’s website today, Nov. 30.

The Faculty of Business and Economics of Switzerland’s oldest university has awarded Buterin for “outstanding achievements in fields of cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and the design of institutions,” as the university noted in a recent tweet on the official Twitter account.

The honorary doctorate of the faculty of economics is awarded to Vitalik Buterin by dean Prof. Dr. med. Aleksander Berentsen. Source: Universität Basel

The honorary degree was granted by dean Aleksander Berentsen, Professor of Economic Theory and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics during the university’s annual celebration “Dies academicus” that took place on Friday, Nov. 30.

The University of Basel specifically noted Buterin’s “groundbreaking” contribution to promoting the idea of decentralization, as well as “equal participation in the digital revolution.” The faculty emphasized that Buterin “wrote his scientific papers without a degree and commitment to a university.”

In July 2018, Buterin criticized centralized exchanges, stating that such institutions should “burn in hell.” The software developer argued that the crypto community should confront the idea of the “stupid King making power,” and confirmed his strong positive stance toward decentralization.

In early November, Buterin revealed some details of the upcoming upgrade to the Ethereum network. Dubbed “Serenity,” the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 will reportedly embrace multiple Ethereum projects that have been collected since 2014. Without specifying the expected date of the upgrade, Buterin only claimed that it was “really not so far away.”

Launched in summer 2015, Ethereum is a major cryptocurrency, as well as a public blockchain platform featuring smart contracts and providing а basis for decentralized applications (DApps).

The major altcoin is the third top cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, having recently lost its position as second to Ripple (XRP). ETH saw its all-time high of $1,400 in mid-January, which was followed by a massive sell-off this year. Ethereum is trading at $112.72 as of press time, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ethereum Price Index