Quadratic Voting & Anti-Sybil Mechanisms

Making voting fair and safe in the digital world

In online communities and blockchain projects, voting is a powerful tool. People vote to make decisions, give feedback, or steer the future of a project. But to make voting fair, we need to solve two big problems:

1. How to avoid rich people controlling everything?
2. How to stop fake accounts from cheating the system?

This is where Quadratic Voting and Anti-Sybil Mechanisms come in.

What is Quadratic Voting?

Normally, if you have more tokens, you get more votes. This is called "one token, one vote." But it's unfair — rich people can just buy more power.

Quadratic Voting (QV) changes this. It lets you vote multiple times, but each extra vote costs more. Here's how it works:

• 1 vote costs 1 token
• 2 votes cost 4 tokens
• 3 votes cost 9 tokens
• 4 votes cost 16 tokens
  ... and so on.

So if you really care about something, you can vote more — but it gets expensive fast. This balances things out:

✅ Passionate users can show support
❌ Whales can't easily dominate

What are Sybil Attacks?

A Sybil attack is when someone creates many fake accounts to cheat the system.

Example:
Imagine a project gives one vote per user. Someone makes 100 fake accounts and takes over the vote. That’s a Sybil attack.

This is why we need Anti-Sybil Mechanisms — tools to make sure each person is real and unique.

Anti-Sybil Mechanisms (Made Simple)

Here are a few popular ways to stop Sybil attacks:

1. Proof of Humanity

People verify their identity using selfies, video, or social connections.

2. Soulbound Tokens (SBTs)

Non-transferable tokens that prove something about you — like your ID or reputation.

3. Reputation Systems

You earn trust over time through activity. Fake accounts can’t easily fake history.

4. Unique Proofs (like Worldcoin or ZK Proofs)

Privacy-friendly tech that proves you're real without showing your data.

Why This Matters

Quadratic Voting and Anti-Sybil tools are key for Web3:

• Make governance fair
• Let small voices be heard
• Stop bots and scammers
• Build strong digital communities

As DAOs, token projects, and apps grow — these tools help us vote better, govern smarter, and keep things real and fair.

Conclusion

• Quadratic Voting = more votes cost more. It gives power to people who care, not just people who are rich.
• Anti-Sybil Mechanisms = stop fake accounts from cheating by proving you're a real, unique human.

Together, they make digital voting safe, fair, and democratic.