The Ethereum Layer 2 network Optimism launched a token and new governance model in April. The team is supposed to distribute the token via an entire season of airdrops. In fact, the team also saw it as a larger move toward a decentralized governance structure known as the (OP) Optimism Collective.
Last year, the platform even got rid of the “whitelist” to bring the optimism closer to a truly open and optimistic Ethereum. But doing so could have opened up cracks, which the team recognized and acted on.
It’s all about bridging this gap
Ethereum L2 protocol Optimism announced that they’ve removed an additional 17k sybil addresses and recovered over 14 million OP. The team, in a 24 May tweet added,
“We carefully analyzed OP Airdrop #1 for sybil attackers who slipped through the cracks. We are happy to report that we have removed an additional 17,000 sybil addresses and recovered over 14 million OPs.
Farewell sibyls!
All of the OP recovered would get redistributed proportionally to other recipients of Airdrop #1. Or, as the team puts it, “It’s like an extra mini airdrop.”
Notably, a Sybil attack is a type of attack on a computer network service in which an attacker subverts the service’s reputation system by creating a large number of pseudonymous identities and uses them to gain disproportionate influence.
Further, the team thanked the community for their support.
Optimism is one of Ethereum’s top Layer 2 scaling projects. According to an Arcane Research report, while transferring ETH can cost about $18.11, the same function cost less than $0.01 with Optimism.
Race to the top
The project has seen significant growth over the past few months amid an increased focus on Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions. As of April 2022, the network has recorded approximately $662 million in total value locked (TVL). But May could see disappointment for the network as TVL slipped to $500 million.
Although Optimism is currently benefiting from a wave of hype, it’s still lagging behind its biggest competitor, Arbitrum, another Layer 2 solution of the Optimistic Rollup which holds $2.71 billion in TVL.
