How to achieve HP airdrop, a comprehensive analysis of the STRK Provisions Program

Author: Trusta Labs

On Valentine's Day, February 14, 2024, coinciding with the fifth day of the Chinese lunar calendar when the God of Wealth is welcomed, the Starknet Foundation (SNF) announced the long-awaited STRK token airdrop plan, known as the "Starknet Provisions Program." The native token STRK will begin airdrop distribution through this program starting February 20, with a claiming period lasting four months until June 20【1】.

New Attempt at Inclusive Airdrop

From the distribution chart of the "Starknet Provisions Program," it can be seen that over 700 million STRK will be allocated to nearly 1.3 million addresses. Compared to the nearly 250,000 addresses that received the first round of airdrops from Optimism, the nearly 620,000 addresses from Arbitrum, and the nearly 200,000 addresses from Celestia, this airdrop aims for broad incentives, with a clear intention of equitable distribution.

1. Over 50% of the tokens will be rewarded to more than 500,000 individual Starknet users;

2. Over 600,000 dApp users on StarkEx, such as dYdX, ImmutableX, Rhinofi, and Sorare, will receive nearly 10% of the token allocation;

3. Starknet is the first L2 project to allocate 21.8% of the airdropped tokens to independent Ethereum stakers and Ethereum LSD holders;

4. Rewards for Ethereum and Starknet developers: EIP authors, Ethereum developers, Ethereum protocol Guild members, and Starknet developers;

5. Rewards for non-Web3 open-source developers based on GitHub contributions, setting a new benchmark for inclusivity.

It is evident that, in terms of the number of incentivized users, ecological coverage, and outreach to non-Web3 developers, the Starknet Foundation is committed to covering as many ordinary users as possible through the Provisions Program. At the same time, it aims to attract as many users and developers as possible, with the ultimate goal of ushering the project into a more decentralized era. As StarkWare CEO Ben-Sasson stated, "The Provision Program marks a new stage of decentralization for Starknet, sparking curiosity about Starknet, promoting learning and use of Cairo, and significantly expanding the community size. More and more developers are adopting Cairo, recognizing that the new era of scalability requires a new language to achieve."

Trusta Labs: An Independent Third-Party Data Service Provider for the Starknet Airdrop Program

How to fairly reward real, valuable project users based on data-driven methods. This was the challenge faced by the Starknet Foundation and Trusta Labs in August 2023. Over the past six months, Trusta Labs, as an independent third-party data service provider, has provided services for the Starknet Provisions Program, similar to Nansen in the Arbitrum airdrop plan, in the following areas:

1. Airdrop Consulting: Trusta Labs successfully assisted Celestia in completing the TIA Genesis Drop. Based on this experience, Trusta Labs offers data-driven professional consulting services.

2. Token Distribution Based on MEDIA: To achieve an inclusive airdrop, a quantitative and scientific value assessment of user addresses is required. Trusta Labs invented an on-chain reputation evaluation system based on M.E.D.I.A, calculating the segmented dimension factors for all addresses on Starknet. Based on this, Starknet selected important variables and established token eligibility rules and distribution scoring.

3. Anti-Sybil Services: By integrating Trusta Labs' and Starknet's anti-Sybil methods, a set of AI-First and User-First Sybil detection solutions was implemented, applied to this Provisions Program after multiple rounds of data simulations.

Considerations for MEDIA Variable Selection and Application

In the qualification screening and token distribution model design, Starknet used Trusta Labs' MEDIA scoring system as a reference【2】. The MEDIA system includes five dimensions: Monetary, Engagement, Diversity, Identity, and Age, to comprehensively assess the reputation value score of addresses. Starknet ultimately selected the following five variables:

1. Engagement - Active Months: Interacted with Starknet in at least three different months;

2. Engagement - Interactions: Completed at least 6 transactions on Starknet;

3. Monetary - Volume: Total transaction amount not less than 100 U;

4. Monetary - Balance: Held at least 0.005 ETH on the snapshot date (November 15, 2023);

5. Diversity - Unique Contracts Interacted: Total number of different smart contracts interacted with;

Throughout the MEDIA variable selection process, Starknet adhered to its inclusive airdrop philosophy, with a design that is simple and broad (in contrast to Arbitrum's airdrop eligibility definitions【3】). For example,

• Starknet did not adopt the Identity variable from MEDIA, as this would make addresses with certain identities (such as holders of stark ids) more special in the airdrop and favored;

• Starknet did not adopt the Age variable from MEDIA, which directly led to complaints on social media that early users were not taken care of. In fact, focusing more on user and project interactions rather than judging based on the timeline of interactions is also a commitment to inclusive airdrops.

• Starknet chose simple variables such as transaction count, months, amount, and snapshot day balance to define user eligibility, with very basic thresholds. Users need to have interacted in 3 different months, completed over 6 transactions, and have a total transaction amount of at least 100 U to likely qualify for the basic airdrop.

It is worth mentioning that the MEDIA system's calculation of account balances includes ETH and various stablecoins. However, due to the emphasis on Ethereum, Starknet proposed the requirement to calculate and use ETH balances, excluding funds like USDT from the balance calculation. Additionally, if funds were held in LPs on DEXs or in lending protocols at the time of the snapshot, they would not be included in the eligibility range. Trusta Labs observed complaints from users who, in pursuit of optimal fund utilization, did not retain 0.005 ETH in their accounts on the snapshot date (November 15, 2023), affecting their airdrop eligibility. This parameter setting regarding currency, amount, and time window reflects the project's airdrop preferences, and Trusta Labs will continue to advise future project parties to consider using a more comprehensive form of fund balance and more diverse gradient reward standards.

Anti-Sybil Services in the Starknet Airdrop

Anti-Sybil work is very challenging, and the root of this challenge lies in the definition of a Sybil. Trusta Labs never considers the activity of individuals with multiple accounts on-chain as Sybil behavior, even if the interaction's purpose is to obtain airdrop rewards. However, using tool scripts for bulk interactions to compete for airdrop resources unfairly, even if achieving so-called premium accounts, goes against Starknet's inclusive airdrop principles.

【4】 describes the anti-Sybil solution developed in collaboration between Trusta Labs and Starknet. This is a two-phase clustering solution:

• Phase one clusters addresses based on various methods, including fund network aggregation, first behavior clustering, token approval behavior clustering, and bulk cross-chain operations. Phase one essentially improves upon the Sybil detection scheme used in the Arbitrum airdrop. Arbitrum only considered community detection mining for address fund networks, while Starknet's airdrop considered more clustering dimensions. However, contrary to popular speculation, Trusta Labs does not analyze similar behaviors from specific events like the Odyssey event. Similarly, Trusta Labs does not have the capability to obtain user IPs, device fingerprints, or other Web2 information from anywhere.

• Compared to the Arbitrum scheme, the new phase two refines the clustering using K-Nearest-Neighbor based on spatial distance and Longest Common Sequence based on sequence distance, minimizing the risk of mistakenly clustering good users.

The Sybil detection solution involves specialized knowledge in machine learning and AI, which we will interpret in another article.

An Example Address that Received STRK

Taking the address 0x01fbfdc792c9d169f3672e7389c4f406dbbb917cd8a58994cac8bb4ddbc4a3a8 as an example, we first look at its MEDIA score on Trusta Labs' Trustgo product, which is as high as 96 points.

This address's scores for Monetary, Engagement, and Diversity are all as high as 99 points, indicating that this address performs well across the relevant variables selected by Starknet in these dimensions. Interested readers can visit【5】 to see this address's performance on Starknet.

Ultimately, this address received the maximum possible allocation of 10,000 STRK.

Conclusion

An airdrop plan that satisfies everyone may be an endlessly approaching dream. Between early users and continuously invested users, between so-called low-quality accounts and premium accounts, and between real individual users and batch-controlled users, project parties must make trade-offs and cannot accommodate all. Starknet's inclusive airdrop philosophy may be pioneering a new paradigm for airdrop incentives. On this path, Trusta Labs will help all users who engage authentically and put in the right efforts to enjoy the rewards of incentives.

For inquiries about STRK airdrop eligibility, you can not only check your eligibility on the official website【6】. Trustgo's Airdrop Checker product【7】 also supports one-stop eligibility checks for various recent airdrops, including STRK.

In addition to this STRK provisions program, Trusta Labs is also a partner in the Celestia Genesis Drop plan. Through the technological accumulation of AI + Web3, Trusta Labs is becoming a provider of objective and scientific on-chain reputation scoring and Proof of Humanity verification, offering project parties a fair evaluation of users, effective user screening, and efficient user incentive solutions.

【1】Starknet Provisions Program: https://www.starknet.io/en/content/starknet-provisions-program

【2】Trusta Labs' MEDIA Scoring System: https://medium.com/@trustalabs.ai/media-score-as-the-infrastructure-for-on-chain-user-value-assessment-c37f68eeb198

【3】Arbitrum Airdrop Distribution: https://docs.arbitrum.foundation/airdrop-eligibility-distribution

【4】Overview of Starknet Anti-Sybil: https://github.com/starknet-io/provisions-data/blob/main/sybil_report.md

【5】An Example Address that Received STRK: https://trustgo.trustalabs.ai/dashboard/0x01fbfdc792c9d169f3672e7389c4f406dbbb917cd8a58994cac8bb4ddbc4a3a8?chainId=23448594291968336

【6】Starknet Airdrop Query: https://provisions.starknet.io

【7】Trustgo's Airdrop Checker: https://trustgo.trustalabs.ai/booster/0x085ed975a8b6b860de3c2b871da60a3f9f48a5b8?chainId=324