Solana’s Saga Web3 smartphone has seen a dramatic change of fortune in the past 48 hours, and it all seems to be down to a certain dog-themed meme-coin… because this is crypto, so of course it is.
The Saga mobile device was launched to great fanfare just six months ago, in May, offering a secure integral crypto wallet (with ‘Solana Pay’ service), Web3 optimization, and its own crypto-friendly/focused app store.
However, it’s safe to say that the unique smartphone never really caught the public’s imagination. After three months of disappointing sales, the price was reduced from $1,000 to $599 in a bid to boost consumer interest in the device.
Unfortunately, even at the lower price point Solana struggled to find a user base, and as recently as last week, the future of the Saga phone was described as being ‘under internal discussion’.
Even Solana Labs co-founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, admitted that he uses an iPhone as his main device, while the Saga is his ‘NFT phone’. Advances in mobile technology have additionally closed the gap between specialized devices and standard smartphones, making the Saga a less compelling proposition.
Until now that is. Thanks to Solana’s very own doggy meme-coin, BONK, which has offered an airdrop of 30 million tokens to each new owner of the phone. This would certainly have been a sweetener to anyone considering a purchase. However, this week BONK has been a-pumping, thanks in part to being listed on Coinbase.
This in turn has created an arbitrage opportunity, as the 30 million BONK is currently valued at $840, well above the $599 cost of the phone. Of course, the price of BONK may collapse at any point, but if it maintains current levels until the phone is shipped then that makes free money, the holy grail for any truly degen trader.
This could either be a genius piece of marketing or just a well-needed lifeline for the Saga phone. It is unclear whether Solana has partnered with the BONK team on the terms of this airdrop, but it would seem to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.
While some new owners may simply cash out their airdrop and leave the phone gathering dust, we are sure that many will give it a chance and explore its unique features. So with more traffic being driven to the network, we might expect to see further gains in the price of both BONK and the native SOL token.
Solana has been reaping the rewards of late, seeing an almost fourfold increase in its token price over the past three months. This could be down to its recent coronation as the king of networks for airdrops, or its healthy developer community creating dApps for the platform. If the increase in Saga phone sales gives it another boost then it could potentially outperform some of the seasoned tokens in the next bull-run.
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