Sybil Attack

A Sybil attack is when one entity creates many fake identities to gain disproportionate influence — thousands of "independent" nodes that are really one pe

A Sybil attack is when one entity creates many fake identities to gain disproportionate influence — thousands of “independent” nodes that are really one person, or a swarm of wallets farming airdrops. Since digital identities are free, systems must be designed to be Sybil-resistant.

Why it matters

“Look, we have 10,000 nodes!” is meaningless if they’re all one operator. Proof-of-stake resists Sybil by making influence cost real staked money (stake-weighted), and capital/identity skepticism is exactly what W3D’s capital pillar measures.

Related terms

decentralization ·
node · airdrop

Browse all glossary terms · Start a free course