Pre-order customers of Solana’s upcoming mobile phone, known as ‘Chapter 2’, had a unique opportunity to profit from the phone before its release. This came about when two cat-themed memecoin projects, Cat in a dog’s world (MEW) and Maneki (MANEKI), airdropped tokens to the wallets of customers who had pre-ordered the device for an upfront cost of $450. The airdropped tokens briefly surpassed the phone’s value in April.
In the case of MEW, 37,600 tokens were airdropped to each holder on April 1. At its peak price after the airdrop, which was $0.0089, the tokens were worth $334 per holder, according to CoinGecko data. Similarly, each holder received a total of 5,199 MANEKI tokens on April 24, which reached a peak price of $0.269 on April 25.
When combined with other memecoin projects, such as Wuffi (WUFFI), which airdropped 114,000 tokens to Chapter 2 wallets, the total value of the airdrops would have amounted to $480 per holder. This would have allowed them to cover the cost of the device and even make an additional $30 in profit, as calculated by airdrop value checker twoloot.com.
However, the value of these memecoins has since declined. MEW is currently valued at $220, and MANEKI has fallen to $124.
During the pre-order process for Chapter 2, buyers were required to link a Solana wallet address, which allowed them to access the airdropped tokens before receiving the phone.
It’s worth mentioning that owners of Solana’s first mobile device, the “Saga,” also received the same amount of Maneki tokens in their wallets.
The original Solana Saga, which was released in May 2023, did not receive much attention and was criticized for technical and usability issues. However, in December of the same year, the phones became highly sought after when savvy investors discovered an arbitrage opportunity during a memecoin rally for Bonk (BONK). Between November 15 and December 15, 2023, the price of BONK increased by over 1,100%. At its peak, the 30,000 BONK airdrop was worth more than $1,150, surpassing the original $599 price of the Saga phone by $551.