An on-chain investigation by SolanaLeeky has raised concerns about the movement of $OM tokens between Mantra team wallets and potential Sybil farming addresses.
While Mantra has taken steps to combat Sybil farming, new findings suggest some team-linked wallets may have benefited from the airdrop despite exhibiting Sybil-like activity.
Background
- SolanaLeeky shared findings with his over 85,000 X followers, highlighting suspicious $OM token movements between Mantra-affiliated wallets and potential Sybil farmer wallets.
- Mantra previously identified and planned to burn 26 million $OM linked to Sybil farming, ensuring these wallets did not qualify for airdrop rewards.
- However, wallets connected to Mantra’s team were still eligible for the airdrop, despite exhibiting Sybil-like activity, raising concerns over fairness and transparency.
- Large token transfers were traced through multiple wallets, leading to an address previously identified as a Sybil farming wallet.
Why should you pay attention?
- Raises transparency concerns – Despite efforts to combat Sybil activity, team-connected wallets remain eligible for airdrop rewards.
- Impacts trust in airdrops – Fair token distribution is key to maintaining credibility in DeFi projects. If team-linked wallets engage in Sybil behavior, it could erode confidence in the system.
- Potential regulatory scrutiny – If insiders benefit unfairly, authorities may scrutinize the project, leading to possible legal or regulatory consequences.
- On-chain analysis as a tool – This case highlights how blockchain transparency enables community-led investigations into token distribution fairness.
Who said what?
- SolanaLeeky, the investigator, noted:
“Although I am not claiming the team is actively complicit, this analysis strongly suggests that some of the team’s wallets are connected to Sybil farmer wallets.”
- Mantra’s official stance on Sybil farming:
123,195 wallets were removed from airdrop eligibility due to suspected bot activity.
26,942,144 $OM tokens were marked for burning.
29 community members were rewarded for high-quality Sybil detection reports.
- Community reactions vary, an X user Ancestor Stoic wrote:
“nobody even owns this scam token. People bought it at $1.5 because team said it's is mandatory in order to get the airdrop to bridge. Then price skyrocketed to $5. While crypto was taking a dump, this pumped to $9 in order to manipulate people to buy it while waiting for airdrop.”
- Another user, Proton Kid noted:
“this still doesn't really have an impact, if it's their wallet, they won't mark it sybil and even if they do and remove the allocation they will send it back to treasury and that's still "them" they do this so that they can simply dump on claim day without raising any concern.”
Zooming out
- The ongoing battle against Sybil farming – DeFi projects often struggle with Sybil detection, as airdrop hunters use thousands of addresses to claim unfair rewards.
- The fine line between treasury management and manipulation – While teams manage large token reserves, undisclosed internal movements can raise serious concerns.
- Decentralized transparency vs. insider privilege – This case highlights the importance of transparency in Web3 governance. If insiders can bypass Sybil detection, does the system truly work?
- The role of on-chain sleuths – Community-driven on-chain investigations are becoming essential to holding projects accountable in the decentralized economy.
- What comes next? – If further proof of team misconduct emerges, will Mantra be forced to take additional action?
