BONK's surge send prices of Solana Saga phone flying to $2K

A dog-themed meme token may have just resurrected sales of Solana’s Saga phone – with some now selling for as much as $5,000 after earlier being deemed a “failure” by its makers.

Several Saga phones on online marketplace eBay (EBAY) have been sold for upward of $2,000 apiece, site data shows. Most of these phones are listed as “sealed and unopened,” and their sellers are predominately from the U.S.

One phone was sold for as high as $5,000, The Block earlier reported.

Sales of Solana Saga phones picked up last week as some arbitrage traders appeared to be chasing a 30 million BONK token airdrop given to every phone owner. The airdrop was worth over $700 at peak last week – for a phone that costs $599.

Earlier in November, the dog-themed BONK gained rapid popularity among blockchain users, spiking as much as 110% during one 24-hour period and extending 30-day gains to over 700%.

That seemingly lifted the fortunes of the Saga phone, whose disappointing sales prompted uncertainty about its future previously

“We haven’t seen a ton of signal whether that’s a compelling enough thing to sell 50,000 units,” Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko said during an interview at the time. “I think 25,000 to 50,000 units to feel like there is a hardcore user base for developers to be compelled to ship applications.”

The phone first went on sale earlier this year, and in August, its price was cut to $599 from $1,000.

Saga has since sold out in the U.S. and European Union, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal posted last Friday.