{"investigation":{"slug":"bonk","entity_name":"Bonk","trust_score":33,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":-12,"confidence":0.62,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Bonk (BONK) is a Solana-based dog-themed meme coin launched Christmas Day 2022 by an anonymous team of 22 Solana community members as a post-FTX community revival initiative. 50% of total supply was airdropped to Solana NFT holders, developers, and artists. Developers burned all team tokens (5T BONK, 5% of supply) in January 2023. BONK surged 2,000%+ in its first week. NASDAQ-listed Safety Shot acquired 228B BONK ($55M) for its treasury in September 2025. No protocol-level exploits recorded. Key risks: anonymous team, meme coin volatility, no fundamental utility beyond community engagement.","sections":[{"content":"Bonk launched on December 25, 2022, created by an anonymous core team of 22 Solana community developers and builders. Positioned as 'the first Solana dog coin for the people, by the people,' it was designed to revitalize the Solana ecosystem after the FTX collapse. 50% of total supply was distributed via airdrop to Solana NFT collectors, developers, and artists. The airdrop generated ~$20M in trading volume on Orca DEX alone, and BONK surged over 2,000% in its first week.","heading":"Origins and Launch","sources":[{"url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/a-deep-dive-into-bonk","name":"CoinMarketCap: Deep Dive Into Bonk","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://atomicwallet.io/academy/articles/what-is-bonk","name":"Atomic Wallet: What Is BONK","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"In early January 2023, Bonk developers burned over 5 trillion tokens (5% of total supply), effectively burning all tokens earmarked for the development team. This was an unusual move for a meme coin project and was interpreted as a signal of community-first intent. Bonk DAO later pledged to burn an additional 1T BONK if unique on-chain holders surpassed 1 million.","heading":"Team Token Burn","sources":[{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/01/06/bonk-inu-developers-burn-all-their-team-tokens-as-solana-ecosystem-frenzy-continues","name":"CoinDesk: Bonk Developers Burn All Team Tokens","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"low"},{"content":"The founding team of 22 members remains anonymous. While this is common in the meme coin space, it creates accountability risks. There is no known entity behind the project that could be held legally responsible. The project operates through a Bonk DAO structure for governance decisions.","heading":"Anonymous Team Risk","sources":[{"url":"https://www.blockchain-council.org/cryptocurrency/bonk-meme-coin/","name":"Blockchain Council: Bonk Meme Coin","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"In September 2025, NASDAQ-listed Safety Shot acquired over 228 billion BONK tokens (~$55M) for its corporate treasury, representing one of the first instances of a publicly traded company taking a significant position in a meme coin. Bonk remains one of the most liquid meme coins on Solana with significant trading volume across major exchanges.","heading":"Institutional Adoption","sources":[{"url":"https://atomicwallet.io/academy/articles/bonk-2025-solana-memecoin","name":"Atomic Wallet: BONK in 2025","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"low"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2022-12-25","event":"Bonk launches on Solana with 50% supply airdropped to community members","source":"coinmarketcap.com","source_url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/a-deep-dive-into-bonk"},{"date":"2023-01-06","event":"Developers burn all team tokens (5T BONK, 5% of supply)","source":"coindesk.com","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/01/06/bonk-inu-developers-burn-all-their-team-tokens-as-solana-ecosystem-frenzy-continues"},{"date":"2025-09","event":"NASDAQ-listed Safety Shot acquires 228B BONK (~$55M) for corporate treasury","source":"atomicwallet.io","source_url":"https://atomicwallet.io/academy/articles/bonk-2025-solana-memecoin","date_original":"2025-09-01"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/01/06/bonk-inu-developers-burn-all-their-team-tokens-as-solana-ecosystem-frenzy-continues","name":"CoinDesk: Bonk Team Token Burn","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260725095221/https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/01/06/bonk-inu-developers-burn-all-their-team-tokens-as-solana-ecosystem-frenzy-continues","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-25T09:52:21+00:00"},{"url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/a-deep-dive-into-bonk","name":"CoinMarketCap: Bonk Deep Dive","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260313032735/https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/a-deep-dive-into-bonk","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-03-13T03:27:35+00:00"},{"url":"https://atomicwallet.io/academy/articles/bonk-2025-solana-memecoin","name":"Atomic Wallet: BONK 2025","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251012143136/https://atomicwallet.io/academy/articles/bonk-2025-solana-memecoin","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2025-10-12T14:31:36+00:00"}],"source_tags":["claude-code-investigator"],"addresses":[{"chain":"solana","label":"Bonk SOL (bonkSOL)","address":"BonK1YhkXEGLZzwtcvRTip3gAL9nCeQD7ppZBLXhtTs"}],"reviewed":false,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-code-investigator","created_at":"2026-05-13T13:40:32.809306+00:00","updated_at":"2026-08-27T10:40:22.787+00:00"}}