Solana-based (SOL)?meme coins?have been?making headlines in recent weeks. One that is receiving?plenty of attention is?BONK, which, as of October 2024, had a market cap of $1.75B, placing it in the top 50 of all?cryptocurrencies.
BONK is an altcoin airdropped to Solana’s community as a Christmas present in 2022. Featuring a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot, the cryptocurrency was inspired by the popular meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE).
The BONK all-time high of 0.0000478c was reached on March 4, 2024, and as of October 2024, BONK hovers at around 50% lower.
Today, Techopedia takes a look at who are the top 10 BONK holders in 2024. Find out who owns the most BONK coins and explore why knowing the crypto whales matters.
Key Takeaways
- BONK, a Solana-based meme coin, is gaining momentum, reaching new ATHs in December 2023 and March 2024.
- The top 10 BONK holders wield significant influence over the market, impacting the token’s stability and liquidity — so we will inspect their wallets today.
- Like with many meme coins, the opinions of influencers and advocates play a significant role in a coin’s hype and success.
The Top 10 BONK Owners
According to data published on SolScan as of October 21, 2024, BONK was held by 780,163 individual wallets.
Moving over to CoinCarp, the top 10 BONK coin owners held over 51% of the token’s total supply in October 2024, and the top 100 holders own over 72%.
Wallet Address | Amount | Percentage (%) |
0x2f74ad2c64be7dc07c9f51e9d338ecb7c1ee0b18 | 27.8 billion | 14.02% |
0x1a1703bf5f1da9db0f62d17e8c54e84fd732d695 | 27.1 billion | 13.66% |
0xb640cfaa683e58109d7af51b5dc16ce07674d405 | 13.0 billion | 6.55% |
0xe2fc31f816a9b94326492132018c3aecc4a93ae1 | 11.9 billion | 5.99% |
0x4a09c768c61681849c31a1602fd9ea79b8a85b30 | 8.0 billion | 4.04% |
0x8894e0a0c962cb723c1976a4421c95949be2d4e3 | 4.0 billion | 2.02% |
0x862418d196d05e0a3d948b26391132f1655f2900 | 3.6 billion | 1.81% |
0x4ed6cf63bd9c009d247ee51224fc1c7041f517f1 | 2.3 billion | 1.18% |
0x8bf013f3e19eb773183496f8e4987f998c47511c | 2.3 billion | 1.18% |
0x8bff04afe970743e425afa670db6e8f8f5b4df73 | 2.3 billion | 1.16% |
Updated: October 21, 2024
BONK has a maximum supply of 93 trillion coins, with 72 trillion in circulation as of October 2024, according to data provided by CoinMarketCap.
Neither CoinCarp nor Solana wallet explorers provide information regarding who owns BONK coins — aka the BONK top holders are not known publicly.
However, it could be expected that a number of those wallet addresses are linked to cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Robinhood, and Coinbase.
Why Whales Matter in Crypto
Max Smotritskiy, the co-founder of the CryptoOracle Collective, told Techopedia that knowing who has the most BONK is important for investors because whales can “hamper” a meme coin’s stability by selling a significant amount of their supply at once, thus greatly reducing the BONK price.
“By holding a lot of the supply [whales] become de facto celebrities and spokespeople for the meme coin. Potential holders will try and discern their intentions by reading their on-chain behavior.
“If [whales] never sell their tokens, their holding functions like a burn mechanism, thereby reducing supply. The best example of this is the creator of [Bitcoin] BTC, Satoshi Nakamoto, who never touched their BTC supply, making those tokens considered ‘burned’ or ‘lost’.”
However, apart from?manipulating the price of a certain cryptocurrency, whales can also maintain a large amount of?liquidity that helps maintain a digital asset’s market capitalization.
According to Kyle Heise, PR director at crypto-focused SCRIB3 and BONK token holder, the longer this lasts, the more attractive a token will become to potential investors.
BONK’s Link to Solana
BONK’s close link to the Solana ecosystem has helped propel the token forward, giving it credibility. However, the meme coin’s initial token distribution could have also potentially affected who the biggest BONK billionaires or even trillionaires are today.
This is because the cryptocurrency was airdropped to SOL Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) holders based on a snapshot date, CryptoOracle Collective’s Smotritskiy explained.
Investors who used the SOL ecosystem were rewarded by being sent a predetermined amount of BONK tokens, and those who “believed in the token were able to scoop up a large portion of these early airdrops at very low prices compared to where the token is trading today”.
According to the BONK whitepaper:
- 21% of the total BONK supply upon its initial airdrop was sent to the 40 most active Solana NFT projects
- 21% went to early BONK contributors
- 16% went to the BONK decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)
- 16% went to active crypto traders and Solana DeFi users
- 10% was sent to artists and collectors of 1/1 art on Solana
- 5% was sent to developers on Solana
- 5% went for liquidity distribution on decentralized exchanges (DEX) and DeFi protocols
- 5% was used for marketing promotions, incentives, and giveaways
SCRIB3’s Heise said to Techopedia that Solana’s resurgence can be paired with the rise of BONK. However, the meme coin’s own initiatives, such as the SAGA airdrop and BONKMAS, also contributed to who the top 10 BONK owners are.
Celebrity Endorsement of Meme Coins to Further Fuel Growth
Like many other things in recent pop culture, celebrity adoption of meme coins like DOGE and BONK has the potential to fuel further token growth, Smotritskiy said.
However, such trends are only temporary, as seen with celebrity adoption of NFTs in the past.
“The only long-lasting proponent of any meme coin is Elon Musk, with his lasting love for DOGE coin. If BONK were to find such an advocate, it would surely boost the token’s standing and, therefore, price.”
But BONK could also piggyback on Elon Musk’s love for DOGE, as the entrepreneur’s tweets associated with the meme coin (like pictures of his Shiba Inu dog) or about the meme coin tend to drive some adoption in other dog-related tokens, too.
SCRIB3’s Heise said that in crypto, celebrities can be everywhere. Solana leaders were some of the earliest to call on the further adoption of BONK, but it was not until recently that the token’s price had managed to flourish. He added:
“BONK was the true leader of the recent Solana Meme Coin season, with others like Myro following suit.”
The Bottom Line
As Solana-based meme coins continue to gain traction, BONK has stood out with a surge in popularity fueled by its Coinbase listing. The top 10 bonk owners hold a significant amount of the token’s supply and play a crucial role in shaping its future market dynamics. While whales can have an impact on stability, they can also contribute to liquidity, attracting a number of potential investors.
The strong connection between BONK and Solana has helped enhance the meme coin’s credibility, with initial token distribution strategies potentially impacting the top holders of BONK today.
As BONK continues to capture attention, the involvement of celebrities, akin to Elon Musk’s support for Dogecoin, could propel its growth, emphasizing the dynamic and evolving nature of the meme coin market.