The rapid development of blockchain technology is reshaping our lives and business models. Airdrops, as a promotion and incentive mechanism in the blockchain ecosystem, have received significant attention in recent years. However, along with airdrops, various challenges and risks often arise, with the most notable being the Sybil Attack. This article will explore the significance and current status of airdrops, analyze cases such as LayerZero and ZKSync to understand how they address challenges, and discuss the future direction of airdrop mechanisms.
Why do projects conduct airdrops?
Blockchain projects choose to conduct airdrops for multiple reasons, laying the foundation for the core position of airdrops in the blockchain ecosystem:
– Increasing visibility and user participation: Through airdrops, projects can quickly attract a large number of users, expand their community size, and enhance the project’s market influence.
– Diversifying token holdings: By airdropping tokens, projects can distribute tokens to more users, avoiding concentration of tokens in a few large holders and thereby increasing the project’s decentralization.
– Testing networks and applications: Through airdrops, projects can encourage users to test, discover, and fix potential issues, improving the quality and user experience of the product.
– Incentivizing early supporters: Through airdrops, projects can reward early supporters, increasing user loyalty and participation.
Challenges faced by airdrops
With the widespread adoption of airdrop mechanisms, projects also face increasing challenges and potential risks:
– Sybil Attack: Attackers abuse airdrop rewards by creating numerous fake identities, leading to the distribution of rewards intended for real users being divided among a large number of fake accounts.
– Bot manipulation: Automated tools and scripts may be used to manipulate airdrop distributions, disrupting fairness.
– Abuse of supervision mechanisms: Malicious users may exploit loopholes in airdrops to attack or manipulate, harming the project’s healthy development.
LayerZero’s Sybil Sweep Operation
In addressing the challenges of airdrops, LayerZero’s Sybil Sweep Operation has become a widely discussed case. They have taken a series of measures to combat Sybil attacks and protect the fairness of airdrops.
On May 4, 2024, LayerZero Labs launched the “Self-Report Sybil Activity” program. If Sybil addresses self-report relevant addresses on the designated page, they can receive the expected allocation of 15% without answering any questions, with a deadline of May 17 at 19:59:59.
After the self-report deadline, the sweep operation is divided into two phases. In phase 1, the official releases a list of all identified Sybil users, where those identified but not self-reported users will not receive airdrop allocations; in phase 2, the official opens bounties, allowing users to submit detailed reports of Sybil activity. Successful reports will result in Sybil users not receiving airdrop allocations, and bounty hunters will receive 10% of the expected allocation of the Sybil address.
Through these measures, LayerZero successfully identified and filtered out a large number of potential Sybil addresses, improving the fairness of the airdrop.
As of June 4, 2024, Bryan Pellegrino tweeted that they are reviewing Sybil reports, and users can submit objections. Although being included in the report list amplifies the risk of the address being considered a Sybil, it does not guarantee that the address will be judged as such. The final list of Sybil addresses has not been released, and the current reports may be false, and a final screening will be conducted. The final list of Sybil addresses will be released by the end of June.
On June 8, 2024, Bryan Pellegrino tweeted again that Nansen has confirmed 60,995 addresses as a cluster of Sybil addresses.
The highly anticipated ZKSync Airdrop Plan
Following LayerZero, ZKSync, as a Layer 2 solution based on zero-knowledge proof (ZK-Rollup) scaling technology, has also attracted significant attention, especially with its recently launched airdrop plan. The ZKSync Association will airdrop 3.6 billion ZK tokens to early users and adopters next week, with 695,232 eligible wallets. The snapshot time was March 24, 2024, and community members can check their eligibility for the airdrop on https://claim.zknation.io/ and can claim the airdrop starting next week until January 3, 2025.
This airdrop accounts for 17.5% of the total ZK token supply. Users will be able to start claiming their tokens from June 24, 2024, and the claiming period will continue until January 3, 2025.
Eligibility for ZKSync Airdrop Participants
The eligibility and standards for ZKSync airdrop distribution are very strict to ensure that only genuine users and contributors are rewarded:
– Users (89%): Active ZKSync users who have conducted transactions and reached the activity threshold on ZKSync.
– Contributors (11%): Individuals, developers, researchers, communities, and companies who have contributed to the ZKSync ecosystem and protocol through development, promotion, or education.
– Eligibility is based on the snapshot of ZKSync Era and ZKSync Lite activities at 00:00 UTC on March 24, 2024.
Distribution of ZKSync Airdrop
ZKSync allocates airdrops based on users’ transaction activities and holdings on ZKSync Era and ZKSync Lite:
– Eligibility assessment: Each address applying for the airdrop must have at least one point to indicate its activity on ZKSync.
– Allocation calculation: Airdrop allocations are calculated based on users’ assets on ZKSync Era (including assets in wallets and DeFi) and the holding time of these assets. The maximum airdrop limit per address is 100,000 ZK tokens.
– Multiplier rewards: Users can also earn allocation multipliers by holding ZKSync native NFTs, participating in DeFi projects, and other activities to reflect their contributions to the ZKSync ecosystem.
Sybil Detection
This airdrop particularly emphasizes Sybil detection to ensure that rewards go to genuine users. ZKSync uses on-chain data analysis and behavior pattern recognition to eliminate Sybil addresses, ensuring the fairness and effectiveness of the distribution.
Interestingly, while not conducting large-scale Sybil hunting, ZKSync has received widespread criticism. Among the 690,000 addresses receiving the airdrop, not only are the airdrop rules somewhat vague, but there are also multiple Sybil addresses that have already been investigated. According to Sybil hunter Artemis, some front-runners have obtained over 2 million ZK tokens by depositing the same amount of Ethereum on the same day, and almost all accounts are listed on LayerZero’s Sybil list.
The future of airdrop mechanisms
The unspoken rules between airdrop hunters and projects seem to have led to misunderstandings between the two sides. Many users believe that airdrops are their deserved “wages” for their efforts in being active and contributing during a bear market, providing income by contributing fees, helping projects create the illusion of prosperity on-chain, and should receive “rewards”. However, these users are more goal-oriented, and projects may not necessarily fully agree.
The intention of projects is not to antagonize the community but to be more cautious in airdrop distribution after the influx of thousands of studios.
The airdrop plans of LayerZero and ZKSync demonstrate the innovative governance measures that blockchain projects take when faced with challenges such as Sybil attacks. These cases provide valuable experiences for the design of future airdrops.
In the current cryptocurrency ecosystem, various airdrop plans still face significant challenges and opportunities. We look forward to more blockchain projects drawing from these successful experiences and designing more fair, transparent, and secure airdrop mechanisms to contribute to the healthy development of the entire ecosystem. Both project teams and ordinary users should adopt a cautious and innovative attitude in this wave of technological change, embracing the infinite possibilities in this vast sea of stars and oceans.
ZAN x Artela
If you missed out on these two airdrops, ZAN has another Artela airdrop activity that you can participate in.
How to participate in the ZAN x Artela activity?
– Visit https://renaissance.artela.network/vision/12.
– Follow @zan_team.
– Visit https://zan.top/artela and connect your wallet.
– Use the ZAN KYT tool to scan for risks and mint NFTs.
– After completing the above steps, verify the task at https://renaissance.artela.network/vision/12.
– By exploring ZAN.TOP and using the ZAN KYT tool to assess your investment portfolio’s risk level, you can then mint your ZAN security pass and enjoy a new DApp experience.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity, participate now!
This article was written by Takeda from the ZAN Team (Official account @zan_team) and individual account @banlideli.
