Bonk (BONK) Tokenomics

The Bonk ($BONK) token is a community-driven meme coin primarily operating as an SPL token on the Solana blockchain, with bridges to other chains like Ethereum (ERC-20), BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), Polygon (MRC-20), and Arbitrum (ArbERC-20). Its token economics are characterized by a fixed supply, a community-focused initial distribution via airdrop, and mechanisms for utility, incentives, and deflationary pressure through burning.

Issuance Mechanism

The Bonk token operates with a fixed maximum token supply of approximately 93.56 trillion BONK as of January 31, 2024. The initial total supply was 100 trillion BONK, but this has been reduced by approximately 6.46 trillion BONK through a burning mechanism.

The token's initial distribution was executed entirely through an airdrop, with no public or private sales used to raise funds for the project.

Allocation Mechanism

The initial maximum token supply of 100 trillion BONK was allocated across various segments of the Solana ecosystem and project contributors.

Note: Some sources provide slightly different breakdowns for the airdrop and overall distribution, but the core allocations remain consistent.

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

BONK functions as a utility token within the Solana ecosystem, with its primary uses centered around decentralized finance (DeFi), trading, and community engagement.

Utility and Use Cases

• DeFi and Trading: BONK is used for liquidity provisioning on BonkSwap, where it can be paired with nine other tokens. It is also used for participating in binary up/down options trading on the SOL/USD price ratio through the "Bonk or Bust" feature.
• NFT Creation: BONK can be used to create NFT art collectibles, with a fee of 1 BONK per NFT.
• Ecosystem Integration: BONK is integrated across a wide range of applications and protocols in the Web3 ecosystem, including DeFi, gaming, and NFT platforms.
• Rewards Pool: Users can lock their $BONK to receive a percentage from the BONK Rewards Pool, which is funded by fees collected across the BONK ecosystem.

Incentive Mechanisms

• Liquidity Provisioning Rewards: Liquidity providers (LPs) on BonkSwap earn a pro-rata share of the transaction fees collected by the associated pools. As of January 31, 2024, advertised Annual Percentage Yields (APYs) ranged from 23.43% to 43.36%.
• esBONK Staking Rewards: LPs in incentivized pools (BONK/SOL and BONK/USDC) receive esBONK rewards (approximately 55.56 million esBONK distributed daily). These esBONK tokens can then be staked on BonkSwap to linearly unlock BONK tokens over a 365-day period at a 1:1 ratio.
• BonkBot Referral Program: Users who refer new traders to the BonkBot Telegram trading bot receive a percentage of the new user's trading fees:
  • 30.00% of fees in the first month.
  • 20.00% of fees in the second month.
  • 10.00% of fees perpetually starting from the third month. These rewards are paid in BONK and funded by a portion of the trading fees.

Burning and Buyback Mechanism

A deflationary mechanism is implemented through the BonkBot trading fee structure:

• BonkBot charges a 1.00% trading fee on all transactions.
• 100.00% of this fee is used to buy back BONK tokens.
• The repurchased BONK are then distributed, with 10.00% of the total trading fees used to instantly burn BONK.
• As of January 31, 2024, approximately 6.46 trillion BONK have been burned, contributing to the reduction of the maximum token supply.

Locking Mechanism and Unlocking Time

Early Contributor Vesting

A significant portion of the initial supply is subject to a vesting schedule:

• Allocation: 21% of the initial maximum token supply (21 trillion BONK) was allocated to Early Contributors (22 individuals).
• Locking Mechanism: This allocation is subject to a 3-year linear token vesting period.
• Unlocking Time: The vesting period began on January 1, 2023, and is scheduled to end on December 31, 2025.
• Unlock Granularity: The tokens are unlocked daily in a linear fashion. The daily unlock amount for this allocation is approximately 19.16 billion BONK.

Staking Lock-up

The staking mechanism involves a lock-up period for rewards:

• Mechanism: Users stake esBONK (earned from providing liquidity) to unlock BONK tokens.
• Lock-up/Unlocking Time: The staked esBONK linearly unlocks into BONK tokens over a 365-day period.