BONK: the dog coin that gave half of itself away
How a Christmas 2022 airdrop cheered up a beaten Solana community, why BONK lasted when most dog coins die, and why it still sits about 95% below its high.
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On this pageWhat happened1/5
Every case file in this track follows the same four steps: what happened, what the signs were, what a careful trader would have checked, and the lesson. Dates and numbers come from news reports, on-chain researchers and price sites, and when two sources disagree we say so. We start with one of the few memecoins that survived.
What happened
In November 2022 the exchange FTX collapsed. Its founder had been one of Solana's loudest backers, and the whole chain took the hit. By late December, SOL had fallen to around $8, its lowest price since early 2021.
On Christmas Day 2022, an anonymous group launched BONK, a dog coin with a Shiba Inu face. They did something unusual: they gave half of the supply away for free. The airdrop went to people who had built and used Solana, from NFT collectors to artists and developers. A big slice went to holders of almost 300,000 Solana NFTs. The team said it was 22 Solana developers with no single leader, kept a share for itself, and in January 2023 burned 5 trillion of its own tokens.
BONK's first two years, with dates
A coin that survives still moves like a memecoin. Here is the ride.
- Step 1: Dec 25, 2022: launch and airdrop. Half the supply goes out free.
- Step 2: First week of January 2023: BONK is up about 2,500% since launch, and SOL rallies with it.
- Step 3: Jan 6, 2023: BONK drops more than 60% in 24 hours.
- Step 4: Dec 14 and 15, 2023: Coinbase and then Binance list BONK. Its market cap passes $1 billion, and Solana's Saga phone sells out because the BONK that came with it is worth more than the phone.
- Step 5: Nov 19, 2024: the all-time high, about $0.000058 per BONK.
- Step 6: Oct 29, 2026: about $0.0000028, roughly 95% below that high, with a market cap near $250 million.
The signs
- The supply was spread out on day one. With half of it handed to a whole community, no small group could own most of the coin.
- The team's share was known, and part of it was burned early. That is the opposite of the hidden bags you will meet later in this track.
- It had a reason people cared about. It was made to lift a chain that had just been knocked down, and big Solana apps such as Orca and Magic Eden began to adopt it or consider it.
- Things got built around it. Over time a Telegram trading bot and a launchpad grew up around the name.
What a careful trader would have checked
- Who got the supply first: an airdrop to a whole community, or a handful of insiders?
- How big the team's own share is, and whether it is locked, burned or free to sell.
- Where you are in the move. Buying after a 2,500% week meant buying right before a 60% day.
- Whether a listing is already priced in. Big exchange listings bring new buyers, and early holders often sell to them.
The lesson
BONK lasted because the people behind it did not keep most of it, and because a real community had a reason to hold it. That is rare. Most coins you meet will be built the other way round. Learn to ask 'who got the supply, and what did they pay?' before 'how high can it go?'
Next: dogwifhat, a joke that became $4.7 billionCheck what you learned
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This guide is for learning. It is not financial advice. Most memecoins go to zero and most people who trade them lose money. Only ever trade what you can afford to lose.