BONK is a memecoin that runs on the Solana blockchain. It was launched in April 2022 as a joke token with no utility or value. However, in the past 30 days, BONK has seen a massive surge of over 1,100% in its price, reaching a market cap of over $1 billion. This makes it one of the most successful memecoins in the crypto space, surpassing its rival Pepe.
The main reason behind BONK’s rise is the free airdrop of 30 million BONK tokens to every owner of the Solana Saga phone, a crypto-enabled smartphone that was released in May 2022. The Saga phone offers a Web3-native decentralized application store and a built-in wallet that supports Solana and its tokens. The BONK airdrop was meant to be a fun incentive for Saga users to explore the Solana ecosystem and its memecoins.
However, as BONK’s price soared, the airdrop became a lucrative opportunity for arbitrage. At the current price of $0.00002981 per BONK, the 30 million BONK tokens are worth $894, which is more than the $599 price tag of the Saga phone. This means that anyone who buys a Saga phone can immediately sell their BONK tokens and make a profit of almost $300.
How did the Saga phone sales skyrocket?
The BONK airdrop has sparked a frenzy of demand for the Saga phone, especially among memecoin enthusiasts who want to capitalize on the arbitrage opportunity. According to Solana co-founder Raj Gokal, the Saga phone sales have increased by more than 10 times in the past 48 hours, and are on track to sell out before the new year.
Solana Mobile, the company behind the Saga phone, confirmed that it has sold millions of dollars worth of Saga phones in the past 24 hours, and that it has limited the purchases to one per household to ensure that more people can enjoy the Saga experience. Solana Mobile also said that it is very cool to see Solana community projects making Saga the “phone that pays for itself”.
The Saga phone sales have also boosted the price of Solana (SOL), the native token of the Solana blockchain. SOL has risen by 7% in the past 24 hours, reaching a new all-time high of $247. Solana is one of the fastest and most scalable blockchains in the crypto space, and it hosts a variety of projects and applications, including memecoins like BONK.
What are the risks and challenges of the BONK airdrop?
While the BONK airdrop has been a huge success for Solana and its Saga phone, it also poses some risks and challenges for the users and the ecosystem. One of the risks is that BONK is a highly volatile and speculative token, and its price could drop significantly at any time. This could result in losses for the users who bought the Saga phone for the BONK airdrop, or for the users who are holding BONK tokens in their wallets.
Another risk is that the BONK airdrop could attract malicious actors who could try to exploit the Saga phone’s security features. A blockchain security firm called CertiK claimed that the Saga phone has a critical vulnerability that allows an attacker with physical access to the phone to load custom firmware containing a backdoor. This could compromise the most sensitive data stored on the phone, including cryptocurrency private keys. However, Solana Labs dismissed CertiK’s claims as inaccurate, and said that the Saga phone does not have any known vulnerability or security threat.
A challenge for the BONK airdrop is that it could create a negative perception of the Solana ecosystem and its memecoins. Some critics might argue that the BONK airdrop is a gimmick that inflates the value of a worthless token and a struggling device. They might also question the sustainability and legitimacy of the Solana blockchain and its projects, and compare them to other memecoins that have crashed and burned in the past.