The billion-dollar ZkSync airdrop, set to distribute 17.5% of the ZK token supply among 695,232 wallets next week, has stirred controversy within the DeFi community. Despite the generous allocation, the distribution method and anti-sybil measures have left many users divided.
Airdrop Controversy
With over 6 million unique addresses interacting with the ZkSync network, the Layer-2 scaling solution’s airdrop is one of the most heavily farmed in DeFi history. However, the eligibility criteria and resulting allocations, detailed in ZkSync’s blog post, have been met with mixed reactions.
Some users feel that ZkSync was in an impossible position due to the large number of sybil clusters, while others are outraged that genuine users are not being adequately rewarded. Sybil clusters refer to groups of wallets controlled by a single entity to exploit airdrop opportunities.
The team has acknowledged the feedback and is working to address the community’s concerns.
Allocation Breakdown
Matter Labs employed a points-based approach for the airdrop allocation, considering variables such as multipliers for holding ecosystem assets, time spent on the network, and sybil detection. All wallets were assigned an initial token allocation based on these criteria. The allocations were then adjusted with a maximum cap of 100,000 tokens and a minimum of 450 tokens.
Wallets qualifying for less than 450 tokens had their allocations redistributed to eligible wallets, and those qualifying for more than 100,000 tokens had the excess redistributed. The 100,000 maximum does not apply to 155 wallets associated with the ZkSync team.
This wide gap between minimum and maximum allocations has resulted in 55% of the airdrop going to less than 1% of active wallets, further fueling discontent within the community.
Anti-Sybil Criteria
In the blog post, Matter Labs emphasized that the ZK airdrop focuses on identifying real users using a “human-first approach.” They cited “risk-on” wallet behavior as a sign of genuine community members.
The controversy is partly fueled by LayerZero’s ongoing sybil reporting campaign, where protocols share lists of flagged wallets to streamline sybil detection. Many users are upset that wallets flagged as sybil addresses have still qualified for the ZkSync airdrop. Additionally, there have been complaints from genuine users who have been omitted from the airdrop, despite using the network since 2021.
Amidst the controversy, the team believes there is an ongoing “coordinated, Sybil misinformation campaign against ZKsync on X.”
The airdrop claim will go live on June 16. The ZK token is currently trading pre-market at $0.36 on Hyperliquid, implying a fully diluted valuation of $7.56 billion.
