The IRYS airdrop, one of the most talked-about token launches this month, is now facing serious scrutiny after a deep dive by on-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps. The platform uncovered signs that a significant portion of the airdrop might have been claimed by a coordinated network of Sybil wallets. According to their findings, suspicious activity around the launch raised alarms about the fairness of the distribution process.
Bubblemaps reported that unusual wallet activity began just one day before the airdrop went live. They discovered that approximately 900 new wallets were funded by the crypto exchange Bitget within a very tight time frame. These wallets showed strikingly similar patterns: no prior on-chain history, nearly identical ETH deposits, and immediate claims of the IRYS tokens as soon as the airdrop was launched. This group of wallets alone claimed around 20% of the total IRYS supply, raising concerns about potential manipulation.
$4 Million in Tokens Sent to Bitget Amid Suspicious Patterns
In an even more alarming development, Bubblemaps revealed that 500 wallets tied to these suspicious clusters quickly moved their IRYS tokens to fresh wallets and then transferred them to Bitget. As of now, approximately $4 million worth of IRYS tokens has already been sent to the exchange. However, Bubblemaps emphasized that there is still no evidence linking the IRYS team to these wallets. The investigation continues, with the platform’s Intel Desk open for community involvement.
Someone claimed 20% of the $IRYS airdrop
Using a cluster of 900 identical wallets funded just before launch
$4M already sold 🧵
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) November 28, 2025
Additionally, the platform found that between November 21 and 24, Bitget funded 20 separate batches of ETH to around 50 wallets each. These wallets displayed the same suspicious behavior, further deepening the concerns about Sybil farming tactics potentially skewing the airdrop distribution.
Airdrop Manipulation Echoes a Previous Incident with aPriori Tokens
This new controversy surrounding IRYS isn’t the first instance of suspected Sybil attacks during airdrops. Bubblemaps previously uncovered similar tactics with the aPriori (APR) airdrop. In that case, around 60% of APR tokens were claimed by a single group using 14,000 connected wallets. This raised alarms over how such coordinated efforts can drain airdrop supplies, leaving legitimate participants at a disadvantage.
The growing scrutiny of the IRYS airdrop has spurred discussions in the crypto community about the need for tighter controls on airdrop distributions to prevent such manipulation. As the investigation continues, it remains to be seen what impact these revelations will have on the IRYS project and its future token distribution plans.