Web3 startup aPriori said Friday that suspicious activity tied to its recent airdrop was not connected to its team, following investor concerns that a single entity claimed an outsized portion of the token distribution.
A mysterious entity claimed about 60% of the recent aPriori (APR) token airdrop across 14,000 interconnected cryptocurrency wallets, according to blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps. The pattern resembles a Sybil-style farming operation, where one actor uses multiple wallets to maximize rewards.
APriori lowered eligibility requirements for its Monad Mainnet airdrop in an effort to reward “genuine users,” but said Friday it found “no evidence that anyone on the contributing team or from the foundation has claimed the airdrop.”
Cointelegraph was unable to verify who controls the wallet cluster and contacted aPriori for more details.
Bubblemaps CEO Nick Vaiman said the project’s initial response appeared “dismissive,” adding that aPriori suggested a leak might have enabled someone to farm the airdrop. “They’re saying there was a leak and someone used that info,” Vaiman told Cointelegraph.
APriori is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2023. In August, aPriori raised $20 million to expand its trading infrastructure platform, with participation from Pantera Capital, HashKey Capital and Primitive Ventures among others, reaching $30 million in total funding.
APriori increases Monad airdrop allocation, crypto investors remain divided
APriori updated the parameters of the incoming airdrop allocation, which will be primarily based on “social contribution,” the announcement stated.
The startup has also increased its unlock on its airdrop allocation from 12% to 15%, meaning that users can claim 3% more of their airdrop allocation when the Monad mainnet goes live on Nov. 24.
The remaining 85% will be claimable six months after the mainnet launch, according to aPriori’s updated technical documentation.
Users seeking to unlock their full allocation can deposit assets equal to 10x their airdrop value for 14 days, which will make them eligible to unlock the remaining 85% of their claim.
Crypto investors divided, industry seeks answers
Crypto investors were divided after aPriori’s announcement, expressing skepticism over the lack of details in the internal investigation.
“Second phase of rug is coming. They’re literally paying botters to hype them up rn,” said crypto investor IbrahimXBT, in a Friday X response.
Other users voiced support for the aPriori team, blaming professional airdrop farmers for the airdrop claim.
“This is 100% false, the FUD is orchestrated by a competing entity,” said crypto investor FastLife in a Nov. 11 X post, adding that “it’s airdrop farmers’ fault.”
In crypto, a professional airdrop farmer (or squatter) is an entity that interacts with emerging protocols solely for the airdrop rewards, often using multiple wallets to compound rewards.
Airdrop farmers consolidated $3.3 million worth of tokens from Arbitrum’s ARB airdrop in March 2023, from 1,496 wallets to just two wallets they controlled.
