Prominent analysts and Ethereum users have criticized the recent token airdrop by layer-2 scaling solution zkSync, citing concerns over uneven distribution and inadequate protection against Sybil attacks, a common form of blockchain manipulation.
zkSync previously announced that 695,232 wallets would be eligible for its ZK token airdrop. To ensure fair distribution and prevent Sybil attacks – where one entity uses multiple wallets to exploit airdrops – ZkSync established seven eligibility criteria. However, these measures have been widely criticized as insufficient.
Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, expressed concern, stating: “I love the zkSync guys, but that was not a well-planned airdrop from a Sybil perspective. Those criteria are easy to not hit as a real user, easy to hit as a farmer, and had no anti-Sybil program.”
I love the zkSync guys but damn that was not a well planned airdrop from a sybil perspective.
Those criteria are easy to not hit as a real user, and easy to hit as a farmer, and had no anti-sybil program.
Real users could easily use 1-2 dapps or only a handful of tokens on your… pic.twitter.com/PiqprIbKJ3
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) June 11, 2024
He added that legitimate users who interact with a limited number of dApps or tokens on a new chain may struggle to meet the requirements, while “farmers” who exploit the system can easily fulfill them.
Cochran further stated, “Projects really need to put more thought into this stuff if they don’t want turbo-dumping mercenaries.” His sentiment is echoed by a larger portion of the crypto community, concerned about token dumping and market instability caused by lax anti-Sybil measures.
Following the backlash, analytics firm Nansen clarified its position. Nansen denied providing advice on ZK token allocations or anti-Sybil checks, stating that it only provided data on wallet segments, including “whales and known scammers.”
Clearing up some confusion regarding @zksync airdrop, in the spirit of transparency:
We provided data on some specific wallet segments to Matter Labs – such as whales and known scammers
We did not however do anti-sybiling, nor did we advise on the airdrop allocation itself.…
— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) June 11, 2024
The company emphasized transparency: “We provided Matter Labs wallet data on whales and scammers. On airdrop distribution or anti-Sybiling, we offered no advice.”
Given that many Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) projects utilize manual Sybil filters, Cochran speculated that zkSync may have cross-checked addresses against known Sybil attackers.
“The bare minimum you can do,” Cochran added, “after so many EVM projects have had manual Sybil filters, is cross-checking those addresses against your airdrop.”
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