Criticism has been directed towards the Ethereum layer-2 scaler zkSync for its recent airdrop of the zkSync (ZK) token, with concerns raised about the lack of anti-Sybil measures and the perceived unfair distribution of tokens.
In a post on June 11, Mudit Gupta, the information security chief at Polygon, a rival layer-2 network, expressed his views on the zkSync airdrop. He highlighted the potential for exploitation due to what he saw as a lack of effective Sybil filtering, allowing individuals to farm tokens easily.
zkSync had announced that 695,232 wallets were eligible to claim the ZK token airdrop, with seven criteria in place to prevent Sybil attacks. However, critics like Adam Cochran from Cinneamhain Ventures argued that these criteria were not sufficient to deter farming and lacked a comprehensive anti-Sybil program.
The backlash prompted Nansen, a crypto analytics firm, to clarify that they did not conduct anti-Sybil checks or advise on token allocations for the airdrop. Meanwhile, zkSync defended its approach by stating that strict anti-Sybil measures could inadvertently exclude genuine users.
Concerns were also raised about the potential for Sybil wallets to receive a significant amount of ZK tokens, with estimates suggesting up to 135 million tokens could be distributed. This raised alarm bells in the crypto community, especially given the significant value of the tokens on the market.
The price of ZK tokens experienced a sharp decline following the airdrop announcement, with some attributing the drop to the controversy surrounding zkSync’s distribution methods. Matter Labs, the development firm behind zkSync, has yet to address the criticism.
Overall, the incident has ignited a debate about the importance of implementing robust anti-Sybil measures in token distributions, highlighting the need for greater transparency and fairness in the crypto industry.