After the devices sold out on the official website for the first time due to a frenzy to grab a free memecoin airdrop, a Solana Saga phone appears to have sold for as much as $5,000 on eBay — more than eight times its retail cost.

Two unopened, in-box phones have recently sold for $5,000 or "best offer," according to a Dec. 16 listing on the online marketplace eBay, while another device sold for $3,316 or "best offer."

Over the weekend, 20 more devices sold for over $2,000, more than $1,400 more than the $599 starting price listed on the Solana Mobile website.

Every new Saga phone since the device's May 8 launch has included a complimentary airdrop of 30 million Bonk (BONK) tokens.

The phone sold out as of December 16 after traders noticed last week that a spike in Bonk's price meant the device's free airdrop had grown more valuable than the actual device.

Those who purchase these scalped Saga phones are probably placing a wager on the memecoin's value rising steadily.

As opportunistic traders and memecoin enthusiasts gave the token widespread traction, Bonk saw a nearly 800% increase in value in the last 30 days.

However, Bonk's price would need to increase by an additional 620% from its current value before traders could profit from the eye-watering $5,000 price tag.

In light of this, Bonk would be valued similarly to Tron or Polkadot, with a total market capitalization of $8.68 billion.

Nonetheless, it appears that the purchasers of the phones might not be placing all of their money on Bonk's price, as a number of Solana-based initiatives have just declared airdrops and other cash rewards for device owners.

The anonymous creator of the decentralized finance protocol, Solend, stated on December 17 on X (formerly Twitter) that the team would be working on an airdrop for Saga phone owners.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-saga-phone-bonk-memecoin-5000-dollars-sold-ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145502802033

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266570325538

https://twitter.com/solanamobile/status/1735835498025832651

https://twitter.com/0xrooter/status/1736031181257531573