The Solana ecosystem is once again at the center of a scandal: the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) BonkDAO, which manages the meme token BONK, has confirmed the withdrawal of assets worth approximately $20 million from its treasury. The cause was the adoption of a malicious proposal in the governance system. Amid the incident, cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Upbit urgently suspended BONK deposits and withdrawals.
How the Attack Occurred
According to my data, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in the voting mechanism by passing a malicious proposal through the governance system. As a result, BONK tokens worth $20 million were taken from the treasury. Technical details have not yet been disclosed. However, as I understand it, this is a classic example of an attack where holders of a large volume of tokens use their voting weight to transfer funds to their advantage. The voting took place via the Solana Realms platform, designed for DAO governance in the Solana ecosystem.
The incident is related to a proposal numbered Bonk Improvement Proposal #76. According to the description, it proposed "implementing Sowellian governance," appointing new council members, and monetizing assets. Ironically, the text also stated that those who voted "yes" would receive BONK. In reality, the tokens were not distributed among voting participants—they went to an address associated with a top-up via a Bybit account and were then transferred to another wallet.
Market Reaction and Consequences
After the incident, exchanges began restricting operations with BONK. Upbit and Kraken temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals of the meme token, fearing further manipulation. This, in turn, triggered a drop in quotes: over the past 24 hours, BONK lost 7.7%, trading at around $0.00000432 according to CoinGecko data.
BonkDAO stated that it is actively cooperating with exchanges, bridges, and the Solana Foundation to manage the situation. During the investigation, exchange wallets used to purchase BONK before submitting the malicious proposal were identified.
Context and Expert Conclusions
It is worth noting that in December 2023, BONK's market capitalization exceeded $1.7 billion, and the meme token was integrated into several Solana projects. However, in June 2026, activity on the "meme coin factory" Pump.fun sharply declined—the number of daily launched coins dropped by 30% compared to spring figures. This suggests that interest in meme tokens is generally waning, and such incidents only undermine trust in DeFi governance mechanisms.
My professional opinion: This attack is a vivid example of how vulnerabilities in DAO governance systems can be used against the community. Investors should more thoroughly analyze proposals and voting mechanisms, especially in projects with a high concentration of tokens among large holders. The meme coin market is already volatile, and such incidents could accelerate its consolidation or even a transition to more secure forms of governance.