zkSync faces community backlash over lack of anti-Sybil measures in ZK airdrop

As a seasoned crypto investor, I’m always on the lookout for promising projects that have the potential to disrupt the market and provide significant returns. However, it’s crucial that these projects are transparent and fair in their operations, especially when it comes to token distributions through airdrops. The recent controversy surrounding zkSync’s airdrop has left me feeling uneasy and concerned.


The Ethereum scaling solution zkSync has faced criticism due to the absence of Sybil protection mechanisms for its ZK token airdrop.

Expert: Some industry analysts are warning that the airdrop event may be vulnerable to Sybil attacks, potentially resulting in skewed token distribution and market volatility.

In simpler terms, a Sybil attack refers to a malicious act where a single entity sets up numerous wallets to unjustifiably amass airdropped tokens. This action skews the fair distribution by accumulating a large portion of the tokens for a select few.

On June 11, zkSync announced plans to distribute approximately 3.68 billion of their native tokens, which represents around 17.5% of the overall supply of 21 billion tokens, to their community through an airdrop.

695,232 wallets were deemed eligible for this drop with a 100,000 tokens cap on each of them.

As a researcher investigating the specifications of this project, I can share that upon the recent announcement, we uncovered seven essential eligibility requirements aimed at minimizing risks related to Sybil attacks. These conditions encompass engaging with ten distinct smart contracts, exchanging ten ERC-20 tokens, and providing liquidity to decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms among other actions.

According to Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran, the airdrop was not “well-planned.”

As an analyst, I’ve noticed Cochran making the argument that farmers can easily meet the eligibility requirements for this project by employing scripts and bots to streamline the process. On the other hand, typical users may have limited experience with multiple decentralized applications (dapps) and hold just a few tokens due to the project’s recent inception.

As such, they might not fulfill airdrop requirements as thoroughly as “farmers.”

As a crypto investor, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Cochran’s warnings about potential Sybil attacks. Similar concerns have been raised by the Sybil-tracking account “Sybil Horror 6.” According to estimates from LayerZero Labs, approximately 135 million ZK tokens could be at risk of being lost due to identified wallets that are suspected to be Sybil addresses. These wallets are believed to be in the hands of individuals or entities taking advantage of airdrops.

Mudit Gupta, the head of information security at Polygon, voiced his criticism towards the airdrop, labeling it as “the most exploitable and exploited airdrop in history.” He pointed out the absence of Sybil filtering, implying that those with knowledge of the requirements could have easily taken advantage of it extensively.

During the intense examination, Nansen, the analytics company, noted that they didn’t carry out anti-Sybil checks or provide recommendations regarding airdrop distribution. Nonetheless, it was reportedly brought to the project’s attention about certain wallet groups, including “whales” and “known scammers.”

Some users criticized Nansesn for its lack of diligence.

As a researcher, I find it disappointing when parties involved in an issue fail to take action on crucial information they allegedly had access to. In this case, @zksync and @nansen_ai, it’s hard for me to believe that you both chose not to act because of some proper procedure. Instead, it seems like a convenient excuse to avoid accountability.

— Borrowed Thots (@To_the_moon2021) June 11, 2024

It’s intriguing that Ignas, a well-known figure in the crypto community, drew attention to a passage in zkSync’s airdrop declaration. In this section, the team revealed their intentional decision against imposing stringent Sybil restrictions.

“Sybil detection often cuts out real users with arbitrary filters,” zkSync wrote.

zkSync hasn’t addressed any of the claims yet. 

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2024-06-12 12:37