The decentralized, autonomous BonkDAO organization associated with the BONK Solana-based meme suffered a hacker attack worth ~$20 million. The attacker exploited a vulnerability in the Solana Realms voting system by submitting a fake proposal called "Sowellian BonkDAO" promising to award BONK tokens to all who voted "yes." To create the appearance of support, the hacker spent about $4.4 million buying tokens through exchanges.

When a quorum was reached, 4.4 trillion BONK (estimated at ~$19.3 million) were automatically sent to the attacker’s address instead of being distributed among voting participants. BonkDAO reported identifying the addresses used to purchase tokens and notified law enforcement. The team collaborates with exchanges, bridges and the Solana Foundation for fund returns.

South Korean Upbit and American Kraken suspended the entry and exit of BONK. Over the course of 24 hours, Token lost ~8.8% in value, trading 92% below its historic high of November 2024, with daily trading volume up 232% to $131 million. The incident was yet another in a series of attacks on DeFi protocols, with hackers previously withdrawing $6 million from Summer Finance and $1.7 million from Taiko storage.