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Crypto in 2024 was full of exciting events, trends, and breakthroughs. One of the most memorable events was the explosion of meme coins on Solana, and it all started with a Bonk. Read our guide to learn more about this trendsetting project.
Key Takeaways
- Bonk started out as a community initiative to take back control over the Solana ecosystem after the FTX crash in 2022;
- Although it was launched the same year, it truly blew up only in late 2023. In 2024, Bonk became a trend-setting project that preceded the Solana meme coin craze;
- Bonk reinforced the commitment to community ethos by airdropping its initial supply to active community members. By now, most of the circulating supply has been distributed between users, pools, DeFi protocols, and popular crypto exchanges.
What is Bonk Coin?
Bonk (BONK) is a dog-themed Solana meme coin. In late 2023 through early 2024, it has gained significant attention in the cryptocurrency market.
This dog coin was created and widely adopted in the Solana community. Because of its grassroots origins, 50% of its total supply (a little under 50 trillion tokens) was airdropped to the community.
Bonk’s Background
The massive airdrop that launched Bonk was on December 25, 2022, and trading began on December 30, 2022. Its highly-anticipated launch led to a 34% increase in the price of the SOL token in 48 hours.
Its theming is inspired by other meme cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). Bonk was not the first dog-themed meme token on the Solana blockchain. However, unlike its predecessor Samoyedcoin (SAMO), it positioned itself as a community-led project that aimed to reunite the Solana users after the FTX collapse.
Not much is known about the Bonk founders or team but it still managed to earn enough trust to gain traction. Due to its community-driven nature, it is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of BONK holders. The Bonk DAO holds 15% of the total supply of BONK to support the token’s development and promotion.
What is BONK Token?
In other words, the Bonk blockchain project is centered around its native coin BONK.
The total supply of the BONK token is 92,674,227,550,764.08 coins, with 75,736,675,231,631.23 BONK currently in circulation. The top wallet holding 9% of the circulating supply is the Bonk DAO account, followed by the addresses belonging to centralized exchanges and the Bonk Stake Pool.
The market capitalization of Bonk (BONK) today makes it the 58th-ranked coin on CoinMarketCap. The highest price paid for Bonk (BONK) as of the time of writing is $0.00005916, recorded on Nov 20, 2024. The current price of Bonk (BONK) is 40.21% lower than its highest price.
How to Use the BONK Coin?
According to the whitepaper (or the Bonk Paper, as the founders called it), BONK is a utility token of the Bonk ecosystem and a means of peer-to-peer payment and settlement. The token is designed to act as a reward for actively participating in this ecosystem.
Like Dogecoin, Bonk also aimed to be a coin that could be used by newcomers to crypto and the Solana ecosystem. Some of the key product integrations that anyone can use with BONK are:
- BONK trading in BonkSwap, BonkBot, BuyBONK, and OpenBONK;
- Move-to-Earn with actual stakes in Moonwalk;
- Liquidity provision with BONK Rewards for passive income;
- Sportsbook betting BONK, SOL, and USDC in BonkBets;
- Convert unneeded airdrops and dust into BONK with the Pooper Scooper tool.
And of course, Bonk is supported in major Solana dApps, where it sees decent trading activity: Raydium, Orca, Jupiter, and Meteora.
Comparison with Similar Projects
The most direct comparison can be drawn between Bonk and Dogecoin (DOGE). The first meme cryptocurrency was launched without an explicit purpose other than a joke but as it gained traction, its community found more and more uses.
Dogecoin and “dog money” inspired another token on Solana we already mentioned, Samoyedcoin (SAMO). Despite also relying on community engagement, it did not find as much adoption as BONK, despite being the earlier project.
Last but not least, Bonk’s success was a huge factor in this year’s meme coin explosion on Solana. It paved the way for another dog-themed token which even flipped it in value: dogwifhat (WIF). Unlike BONK, WIF is a true and blue meme with no pretense of inherent value.
Does BONK Have A Future?
By design, Bonk’s future is dependent on its partnerships and adoption. In addition to the key projects, such as BonkSwap or BONK Rewards, it is decently widely adopted in the Solana blockchain ecosystem, so it is safe to say that at least its speculative value is ensured.
Does it mean Bonk is worth buying? This is something you should decide after seeking professional investment advice or at the very least, doing your own research and appraising your risk appetite. It is increasingly unlikely that the BONK price will show the same performance as in the past but due to the volatile nature of crypto assets and meme coins especially, it can still make huge moves up and down.
What Wallet to Use for Bonk?
To access, hold, and manage BONK tokens, as with any other tokens, you will need a wallet. Centralized exchange users will see their tokens in their account balance but keep in mind that in that case, the exchange is the real owner of the assets.
The official option is BonkVault, a cryptocurrency wallet designed to securely store Bonk coins and other digital assets.
As an SPL token, BONK can be viewed and accessed in the crypto wallets that support Solana tokens. A few examples of them are Trust Wallet, Exodus, Solflare, and the hardware wallet Tangem. These crypto wallet apps come with extra functions beyond viewing and sending BONK.
How To Get BONK?
You can buy Bonk coins on various crypto exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase. To buy a Bonk coin, you’ll need to create an account on one of these exchanges and deposit funds.
If you want to avoid the hassle and expose too much personal information, buy or sell Bonk today with crypto on ChangeHero:
- Choose the currencies on the home page, amounts, and the type of exchange. Provide your BONK wallet address in the next step and check the details;
- Double-check the provided information, and read and accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy;
- Send the cryptocurrency for the swap in a single transaction. In Fixed Rate transaction you have 15 minutes before it expires;
- Sit back and relax. At this step we are doing all the work: checking the incoming transaction and doing the exchange as soon as it arrives;
- As soon as the exchange has been processed, your BONK is on its way to your wallet. And so, the transaction is finished!
If you ever encounter any issues during your swap, our support specialists are always available to help you in chat or via email: [email protected].
Haven’t got any crypto yet? We have you covered: buy any crypto with a bank card, ApplePay, or GPay from our partners and swap it for BONK on ChangeHero.
Conclusion
Bonk is not the first dog coin on Solana, as some might claim, neither by launch date nor the value. Nevertheless, it could be argued that by the sheer impact it has made, it is number one.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a BONK coin?
The BONK tokens are the core of the Bonk crypto project, which is an initiative by the Solana community to run a truly decentralized ecosystem.
What is the BONK coin used for?
The purpose of the token is to serve as a utility token and a unit of value within the Bonk ecosystem. In addition, users trade BONK on crypto exchanges and in Solana-based DeFi products.
Can BONK crypto reach $1?
BONK’s total supply is 100 trillion, and the BONK price would only be able to reach this target with a market cap of $100 trillion. It is about 33 times the total crypto market capitalization today.
How much is a BONK coin worth today?
At the time of writing, the price of BONK is $0.00003498 according to CoinMarketCap.
Disclaimer
This article is not financial or investment advice. When dealing with cryptocurrencies, remember that they are extremely volatile and thus, a high-risk investment. Always make sure to stay informed and be aware of those risks. Consider investing in cryptocurrencies only after careful consideration and analysis of your own research and at your own risk.
