Ethereum’s first zkEVM blockchain ZKsync unveiled their upcoming ZK Token on Tuesday – but saw immediate backlash over poor anti-Sybil measures for its airdrop.
Anti-Sybil measures are steps taken by token issuers to ensure that only real users are the recipients of an airdrop, and to prevent account farms from unfairly receiving the lion’s share of a token’s supply.
Prominent figures, including Partner of VC firm Cinneamhain Ventures Adam Cochran, were among many to share their disappointment as widespread backlash ensued.
As of writing, ZKsync have yet to respond or amend their ZK Token plans.
How will the ZK Token be distributed?
The ZKsync team took a snapshot of activity on March 24, 2024 at 0:00 UTC to determine eligibility and allocations for the ZK token airdrop.
Eligible wallets will be able to claim their airdrop allocation from next week – the exact date is yet to be determined – with the claim period set to close on January 3rd, 2025.
ZK Token will have a total supply of 21B, with 66.7% going to the community and the remainder to the team and investors.
17.5% of the total supply – 3.675B tokens – will be distributed via this airdrop, and will be liquid on Day 1, with ZKsync claiming that 695,232 wallets are eligible.
Why is the ZK Token airdrop controversial?
In a blog post, ZKsync claimed that “Sybil detection often cuts out real users with arbitrary filters”, and that strict application of Sybil criteria would be an “incomplete approach”.
The team goes on to state that their airdrop would “focus on identifying real users using a human-first approach”, looking into each wallet’s history, stating that “real people tend to be risk-on”, as opposed to “bots and opportunists”.
The blog goes on to state that “the vast majority of Sybils have been naturally eliminated through the eligibility and allocation criteria,” and that “each wallet was run through an additional Sybil detection step” – although Nansen, an AI-driven blockchain analytics firm which supports ZKsync, were quick to clarify they did not perform anti-Sybil checks or advise on airdrop allocation, stating they “provided data on some specific wallet segments”, including for “whales and known scammers”.
The crux of the community backlash revolves around the differences between how legitimate users interact with ZKsync, and how their team perceives legitimate users would act, with many long-term users of ZKsync unhappy at being ineligible for the airdrop.
Further concerns arose about how liquidity providers and value locked were given higher weight in comparison to considerations such as trading and transaction volume, gas ratios and when users first interacted with ZKsync. Many comparisons were made to the Arbitrum airdrops – seen as a gold standard by the community at large.
As stated, ZKsync are yet to respond to the controversy, but with pressure mounting and the airdrop set to kick-off next week, we expect to see a response from their team before the week rounds out.
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