Solana ‘Chapter 2’ Airdrops Briefly Cover Cost of the Phone

Solana ‘Chapter 2’ smartphone pre-order customers are already realizing significant benefits ahead of the device’s anticipated launch in 2025. The teams behind Solana’s cat-themed memecoin projects, Maneki (MANEKI) and Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), airdropped tokens to the wallets of crypto users who pre-ordered the new Chapter 2 device. If the tokens maintain their value, this initiative could cover the phone’s $450 price, according to Solana Floor.

On April 1, the team behind MEW sent 37,600 of its tokens to eligible Solana wallets. According to CoinGecko data, this allocation was valued at $334 at its highest post-airdrop price of $0.0089. Similarly, on April 24, 5,199 MANEKI was airdropped to each wallet. MANEKI also hit a peak price of $0.269 on April 25. On Thursday morning, the combined value of the two meme coins sent to each buyer was $459 — over the original price announced with the device in January.

MANEKI has risen over 8.5% in the last 24 hours, while MEW is up 3%, per CoinGecko data. According to airdrop value checker twoloot.com, the MEW airdrop is currently valued at $214.97, and the MANEKI airdrop is $108.91. Combined with $42.25 worth of three other memecoin airdrops — IQ50, CWIF, and WUFFI — the total Chapter 2 airdrop value is currently $366.13.

In January, Solana Mobile introduced the more affordable Chapter 2 as the successor to its first crypto phone, Saga. The device hit 60,000 pre-orders within a month and is anticipated to ship in the first half of 2025. The new phone has the same features as Saga, such as a dApp store, customized Android software, and a built-in crypto wallet, but will use different hardware.

Cat-themed Memecoins Vs. Dog-themed Token

If their prices rise, multiple cat-themed memecoins could soon cover the cost of Chapter 2. This situation echoes the past when Bonk, a single dog-themed token, covered the price of the original Saga device. 

The first Saga phone, originally priced at $1,000, was dropped to $599 due to slow sales. However, the value of the Solana-based memecoin Bonk shot up by over 800% in December. With 30 million Bonk tokens in each device, their total value soon exceeded the phone’s. The value rise led to the quick sale of the firm’s limited 20,000 phones, with some orders canceled and refunded due to low stock.