UNCHAINED: LayerZero Fought the Sybils and Airdropped Its Token. Did the Team Win?

LayerZero’s token ZRO is now live. Founder Bryan Pellegrino delves into all the controversies, challenges and criticisms of its anti-Sybil campaign—and its requirement of a donation to the Protocol Guild.

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LayerZero’s token claims went live on Thursday, and as with every recent airdrop, there was plenty of controversy.

In this episode, Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, joined to discuss their ambitious anti-Sybil campaign and the subsequent token distribution. He delved into the challenges of ensuring genuine user participation, the decision to offer a self-report option for Sybil attackers, and the complexities imposed by industrial-grade farmers. Bryan shared what he would have done differently and why a mandatory donation to Protocol Guild was imposed.

Also, are airdrops dead? How can the industry improve this not-so-effective distribution method? 

Show highlights:

0:30 Why LayerZero launched an anti-Sybil campaign with its airdrop, and what challenges they faced in ensuring genuine user participation4:00 Why LayerZero offered a self-report option for Sybil attackers, and how this strategy revealed both the complexities and the creativity within the crypto community09:28 How the anti-Sybil campaign uncovered over a million fraudulent accounts12:43 What Bryan would have done differently in their campaign15:33 What alternative methods, such as KYC and proof-of-humanity protocols, LayerZero could have used for their anti-Sybil campaign16:53 How LayerZero navigated the cat-and-mouse game with industrial airdrop farmers21:30 Why they decided to impose a donation to Protocol Guild to claim the ZRO token30:33 What caused the dramatic drop in LayerZero's activity post-announcement of their anti-Sybil campaign, and why the team is optimistic despite the decline33:53 LayerZero's plans for future airdrops 37:11 What Bryan thinks the future holds for airdrops in crypto, and how the current broken system can be improved to achieve better distribution and user engagement

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Guest

Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs

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Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC.  Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. 

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