GlossaryAdvanced
Sybil Resistance
A system's ability to prevent a single actor from gaining disproportionate influence via fake identities.
Sybil resistance describes how effectively a system prevents a single actor from creating many fake identities to gain disproportionate influence — the underlying goal that mechanisms like proof of work, proof of stake, and airdrop eligibility checks are all, in different ways, designed to achieve.
Different systems achieve Sybil resistance through different means, each with its own trade-offs.
Examples
- Proof of stake achieves Sybil resistance by tying influence to staked capital rather than identity count.
- An airdrop program's eligibility checks are a form of Sybil resistance specific to that context.