LayerZero Launches Largest-Scale "Witch Hunt" Operation

On May 2nd, the cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero officially announced that the first snapshot (Snapshot #1) had been completed, with further information set to be revealed soon. Being one of the most anticipated potential airdrop projects in the community, this brief announcement from LayerZero was interpreted by the community as a signal that “the big one is coming” now that the airdrop snapshot had been completed.

On May 3rd, LayerZero's official account once again teased an important announcement to be made later that evening, stating it would “demonstrate continued trust in community members.” However, just as the community speculated whether LayerZero was about to unveil detailed airdrop rules, the actual announcement delivered a heavy blow to all users — tokens were indeed going to be distributed, but only after multiple rounds of witch hunt activities.

The Rules of the Witch Hunt Operation

The witch hunt activity this time will be divided into three rounds.

The first round is the “self-disclosure” phase, which will last for 14 days. Users who suspect themselves of being witches can voluntarily disclose during this phase throgh the window provided by LayerZero to retain 15% of the airdrop allocation.

To facilitate self-disclosure, LayerZero also thoughtfully provides an API tool for mass address submission.

The second phase is the “trial” phase, during which LayerZero officials will conduct witch hunts according to specific rules. The results of the witch hunt will be announced on May 18th, and addresses identified during this phase will not receive any airdrop allocation.

The third phase is the “mutual accusation” phase, which will run from May 18th to May 31st. LayerZero encourages community users to report witch behavior against each other. Successful reporters can receive 10% of the airdrop allocation of the reported address.

The Criteria for Identifying Witches

To prevent witches from self-disclosing, the officials have not listed specific details. However, it can be confirmed that behaviors leading to an address being identified as a witch include:

- A single individual or entity using dozens, hundreds, or thousands of addresses for batch interactions.

- Minting a “worthless” NFT for cross-chain transfers between different chains.

- Using common “witch washing” applications like Merkly, L2 Pass, L2 Marathon.

- Transferring extremely small amounts (e.g., $0.01) between different chains to leave interaction records.

If you suspect yourself of being a witch, you probably are one.

Regarding the determination of using tools like Merkly, some users have questioned the potential for widespread “false positives.” Bryan responded, saying, “If you're a genuine user who has used Merkly to reduce gas fees, you may not be identified as a witch. However, if you're only using Merkly to transfer assets back and forth, you might be a witch.”

LayerZero currently has a user base of nearly 6 million addresses. Based on the schedule disclosed by LayerZero, the governance token of the protocol is likely to be officially issued after the end of the “mutual accusation” phase on May 31st. Therefore, the expected token issuance date should be in June.