Solana Developers Receive Unexpected BONK Airdrop Last Christmas—Now Worth Half a Million Dollars
Pragmatic investors may dismiss volatile meme coins, but they can prove everyone wrong, at least until they crash. However, Solana’s BONK meme coin has been defying expectations lately, soaring to new heights as the SOL token rebounds from a challenging year. Those who received a generous airdrop of BONK tokens last year might be feeling quite fortunate at the moment.
According to data from CoinGecko, BONK has surged by an impressive 821% in the past 30 days, consistently reaching new all-time high prices and surpassing a market cap of $1 billion. While each token may not seem like much at its current price of $0.00002006, the value can accumulate rapidly when held in large quantities.
Some Solana developers can attest to this firsthand, but only if they held on to their tokens. Last Christmas, shortly after BONK’s launch, developers who filled out a form in the LamportDAO community received a surprise holiday gift in the form of 25 billion BONK tokens, worth around $300 at the time and more than double that by the end of the day.
Solana’s top meme coin emerged during a bleak period for the ecosystem, coinciding with SOL’s drop to around $8 from its November 2021 peak of nearly $260. While the whole crypto market was experiencing a downturn, Solana, closely associated with collapsed exchange FTX, seemed to suffer disproportionately.
However, the dog-themed meme coin played a significant role in restoring positivity to the Solana community in the following weeks. Many participants in the Solana network, including DeFi traders, NFT collectors, and artists minting on the chain, benefited from the airdrop. LamportDAO developers collectively received approximately 5% of the total token supply.
Shortly after the airdrop, developers expressed their gratitude, with some stating that selling the tokens would help them cover essential bills after enduring a brutal bear market that particularly impacted Solana. One developer, zkTuring, shared their appreciation on the LamportDAO Discord, highlighting how the gift of $800 could cover two months of rent.
However, those developers who held onto their 25 billion BONK tokens are now sitting on a fortune worth over $500,000 in Solana tokens, based on the current price. For those who sold early, witnessing such a tremendous surge in value might be a tough pill to swallow, referred to humorously by crypto enthusiasts as “paperhand generational wealth.” Nevertheless, for some Solana developers, the airdrop may have provided the lifeline needed to survive a harsh crypto winter and continue building for the future.
Edited by Guillermo Jimenez