The Solana Saga smartphone has been given a shot in the arm thanks to airdrop buzz. The rising price of leading Solana meme coin BONK helped juice the value of a token airdrop for holders, prompting a frenzy to snatch up the last units in December—and now the Saga is sold out, with demand even exceeding the expected supply.
Solana Labs says it is weighing potential future moves in the Saga ecosystem, but in the meantime, other Solana-based projects are keeping the excitement alive by launching their own token airdrops for Saga owners.
YouTube tech reviewer MKBHD called the Saga the “bust of the year,” but these airdrops have Saga buyers feeling pretty good about their purchases. Saga owners who claimed every airdrop and free perk—and held onto them all—now have thousands of dollars' worth of free tokens and NFTs.
If you managed to grab a Solana Saga before the sellout, here are the current airdrops and perks you can claim right now, upcoming token airdrops that have been teased, and past benefits that early Saga owners were able to claim.
Solana Saga smartphones are suddenly selling like hotcakes, apparently, after crypto traders realized that they came with an airdrop of BONK meme coins valued at more than the cost of the hardware. But with the full production run about to be tapped out, it's fair to ask, will Solana Labs produce more devices—or even make a next-generation phone?
For now, Solana Labs—the startup that comprises the network's founders—is keeping the door open, saying that it will assess both demand and developer i...
Current airdrops
BONK
Solana’s top meme coin helped spur renewed buzz around the Saga, as traders realized that BONK’s rapidly rising price meant that the airdrop was more valuable than the phone’s price. Saga owners can claim 30 million BONK tokens, which is about $500 worth as of this writing. At BONK’s peak price last month it would’ve been $1,025 worth.
Meme coin of the moment Bonk (BONK) and the blockchain it runs on continue to attract substantial investor interest. Right now, Solana-based BONK is the best-performing cryptocurrency and has soared 101% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
The dog-themed token is trading hands for $0.00002913. In the past seven days, it has risen by over 130%.
And over the past month, the token has shot up in value by 988%. The meme coin—a volatile coin or token that is based on an Internet joke or mem...
Access Protocol
Content monetization platform Access Protocol got in on the Saga airdrop frenzy in December, announcing that it was giving out 100,000 ACS tokens to each phone owner. The drop undoubtedly gave Access Protocol significant exposure and led to a significant surge in price for the token, pushing that airdrop to a value of about $370 at the time. It's a little over $250 worth as of this writing.
Samoyedcoin
Another Solana-based dog coin, the long-running Samoyedcoin (SAMO), has gotten in on the Solana Saga buzz. The project launched its airdrop for Saga owners on January 9 after teasing it in December, and owners can claim 1,250 SAMO. That's not a huge sum—less than $20 worth as of this writing—but free money is free money. The project also launched tools to help other Solana builders launch their own Saga airdrops with ease.
Owners of the 20,000 total Solana Saga smartphones produced to date have been handed a wide array of token airdrops and incentives in recent weeks following a sales spike, and now another has arrived—with the token in question gaining in price over the past day.
Samoyedcoin (SAMO), a long-running Solana meme coin that peaked in price in 2021, previously announced plans for an airdrop for Saga owners, and confirmed on Monday that it was imminent. On Tuesday, the creators of the token opened up th...
Saga Monkes
An NFT project called Saga Monkes was spun up in early January, with one of the NFTs airdropped to 8,505 wallets. Quickly, the NFTs were being flipped for significant sums, with the price floor—that is, the price of the cheapest listed item—reaching about $1,250 worth of Solana. As of this writing, they still start above $600 worth of SOL.
Honeyland
Solana-based mobile game Honeyland offers a free perk to all Saga owners in the form of a free claim of 50 HXD tokens and a “Beemium” in-game upgrade, which typically costs $30. Granted, 50 HXD tokens is worth only a little more than $5 as of this writing, but with the upgrade it’s a potentially nice little boost for getting started in the game.
Solana Saga smartphone owners continue to pull in the perks, including immensely valuable airdrops that are worth more than the cost of the phone itself—that is, before the initial run of the Android phones sold out. And the latest is an NFT that’s now selling for more than $1,000.
Saga Monkes launched on January 6 with a look that's reminiscent of the hot Node Monkes project on Bitcoin Ordinals, even though the projects are unrelated and the art is distinct. There's only so many ways you can pi...
Upcoming airdrops
MixMob
Solana-based gaming platform MixMob recently launched its first title, Racer 1, and revealed plans to Decrypt to launch an upcoming MXM token airdrop—both for early players and supporters, as well as for Saga owners. The Saga airdrop will come alongside an exclusive tournament and benefits for phone owners early this year.
Crypto gaming startup MixMob has released its first Solana-based game, Racer 1, a card-driven strategic racing experience where players can bet on matches or play and earn tokens for winning races. The launch comes ahead of plans by MixMob to airdrop tokens to the community.
Racer 1 is a “race-to-earn” game where players can also choose to stake (or lock up) their MXM tokens, according to the game’s litepaper. The game is playable on iOS and Android devices, as well via desktop web browsers and...
Solend
Lending protocol Solend is planning its own airdrop for Saga owners, with pseudonymous founder Rooter tweeting on December 16 that such plans are in the works. No further details have followed yet, but the SLND token has popped 24% over the last week. He also teased a separate airdrop for “past and current Solend users.”
Degens Factory
Degens Factory, a Solana-based brand in the making, is set to deploy a DGN token in the near future—and on Christmas Day, pseudonymous founder and CEO Urkann tweeted that the project had "set aside a bag" of DGN for Solana Saga owners. No further details are available yet, but it's yet another prospective airdrop to look forward to for Saga users.
Additional perks
Earning SHDW
ShdwDrive, a decentralized storage platform for Web3 builders, will let Saga owners mine SHDW tokens by running an “Auditor Node.” What does that mean? Apparently, you’ll just be able to open up and run an app that helps support the network, and earn tokens in the process. This feature does not appear to be live yet, as of this writing.
Helium Mobile
Saga owners in the United States can claim a free month-long trial of Helium Mobile, the crypto-powered 5G wireless service built atop the Helium network—which is now running on the Solana blockchain. This perk is valued at $20.
Crypto-powered wireless phone service Helium Mobile is now available nationwide following an initial trial launch in Miami. Helium Mobile provides cellular phone service across the decentralized Helium network with support from T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network, and lets subscribers earn crypto tokens through everyday use.
According to Nova Labs, the startup that includes the original founders of the eponymous network, Helium Mobile offers unlimited talk, text, and data use for $20 per month with...
Wolf Capital NFT
Wolf Capital, a Solana lending and borrowing aggregator, is airdropping a free animated wolf NFT to all Saga owners, along with a custom wallpaper that can be used on the phone. The project said it will send out the NFTs in daily waves to newly activated Saga wallets ahead of launching an eventual claim website.
Stake for ELE
Upcoming Solana-based game Elementerra is offering Saga Genesis NFT holders the ability to stake the NFT pass and earn ELE tokens in the process. It’s part of the lead-up process before the game’s official launch in January 2024.
Genopets toy
Move-to-earn Solana game Genopets also offers a free perk for Saga owners: You can claim a free in-game “Saga Phone Toy” and get started with an extra benefit.
Past perks
Claynosaurz: Call of Saga
Early Saga owners were able to claim one of 2,000 free Claynosaurz: Call of Saga NFTs exclusive to Saga Genesis NFT holders. This free benefit is long past claimed, but those Saga owners have been rewarded for being early adopters—if they held, that is. The NFTs now start at a price of 22 SOL on Magic Eden, or about $2,050 worth.
Magic Eden
Prominent Solana NFT marketplace Magic Eden offered Saga users a “Magic Box” containing 25 USDC, or $25 worth of the stablecoin. It was available to the first 5,000 Saga users, so it ought to be fully claimed by the time you read this.
Edited by Guillermo Jimenez
Editor's note: This story was originally posted on December 21, 2023 and last updated with new information on January 11, 2024.
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