LayerZero Sybil Check Currently Taking Time But Airdop Still Happening On Schedule

Key Points:

• To address the sybil problem thoroughly, the LayerZero sybil check can take up to two months.
• LayerZero partners with blockchain analytics firm Nansen to refine AI detection methods for future airdrops, including one from their partner zkSync.

Co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Bryan Pellegrino expressed his hope that he will have an additional two months to complete the LayerZero sybil check.

LayerZero Sybil Check Is Thoroughly Conducted

Although he is certain they may receive additional airdrops, he had to give up on analyzing certain very evident huge sybil clusters with thousands of addresses owing to time constraints. These clusters are unlikely to match LayerZero’s final eligibility requirements for airdrops.

“To be clear this is just my own personal venting on not having as much time in life as I’d like. Timeline still secure. Bit off a lot here, a lot of very very late nights for now,” Pellegrino said.

LayerZero, a cross-chain connectivity project, is facing a challenge with sybil accounts inflating its user activity. These sybils aim to game the system and receive airdrops from LayerZero.

While these accounts are unlikely to qualify for LayerZero’s airdrop, they may target upcoming airdrops from partner protocols. LayerZero sybil check is the basis for removing harmful components in the future.

The inauthentic activity results in a tenfold decline in daily user interactions on the LayerZero protocol. Daily messages plummeted from over 348,000 on May 1st to a mere 37,000 at the time of writing. This sharp drop exposes the dependence of LayerZero’s activity metrics on bots attempting to “farm” airdrops.

LayerZero Syblil Highlights Challenges In Airdrop

LayerZero acknowledged the sybil problem and attempted to address it by allowing these fake accounts to voluntarily disclose themselves in exchange for a small portion of the potential airdrop rewards. Over 800,000 addresses participated in this program.

The project is now collaborating with Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm, to implement stricter measures to identify and eliminate sybils. This collaboration aims to refine Nansen’s AI to distinguish real users from fraudulent accounts in future airdrops, including an upcoming one from zkSync, a partner of both LayerZero and Nansen.