LayerZero Labs, a well-known protocol for cross-chain interoperability, has made a commitment to address the issue of sybil farmers ahead of its highly anticipated airdrop. In an announcement, LayerZero Labs stated that it will conduct an internal investigation to identify and exclude sybil farmers from receiving allocations in its upcoming token generation event. The project also plans to launch a reward program, offering a 10% bonus of the intended token allocation to bounty hunters who identify additional sybil users.
Sybil farming involves the creation of multiple wallets controlled by a single user in order to generate significant activity on a network or protocol and maximize airdrop benefits. LayerZero Labs aims to distribute tokens to genuine and long-term users, rather than sybil farmers, in the best interest of the protocol. Since its launch over two years ago, LayerZero has seen interaction from nearly 6 million unique wallet addresses. The team believes that excluding sybil farmers from the airdrop is necessary to ensure a fair distribution of tokens. They made this commitment public through a tweet, demonstrating their dedication to combating sybil farming.
Instances of sybil farming have been observed in the crypto space before. For example, in 2022, Optimism disqualified over 17,000 suspected wallets engaged in sybil activity from its airdrop, which accounted for 6.83% of eligible wallets. Similarly, in September, a network called ZkSync Era discovered 21,877 wallets involved in sybil farming activities, where the wallets were transacting a closed-source token among themselves using a private decentralized exchange.
LayerZero Labs has identified several on-chain activities that may result in exclusion from the airdrop. These include instances where a single entity engages in “industrial farming” through multiple wallets, users who mint “valueless” NFTs solely for the purpose of transferring them across networks, individuals who repeatedly bridge minuscule asset values between chains, and those interacting with well-known sybil farming applications.
The project encourages sybil farmers to self-report through signed on-chain messaging until May 18, offering them a chance to receive 15% of their intended airdrop allocation. LayerZero Labs also plans to provide an API that allows industrial farmers to self-report. It is important to note that airdrop eligibility will be subject to “legal or geographic requirements.” This implies that sybil farmers operating from countries with regulatory risks, such as the United States or North Korea, may have little to gain from self-reporting.
LayerZero Labs recently completed the first snapshot for its highly anticipated airdrop. In December, the project announced its plans to distribute tokens to early adopters in the first half of 2024. The anticipation for the ZRO token launch is already evident, especially on decentralized exchanges. On Hyperliquid, the world’s largest perps DEX, a perpetual futures contract for ZRO is currently trading at $8.4, suggesting a fully diluted valuation of approximately $17 billion for the upcoming token.
