BONK core contributor Nom's latest interview: Bear market development, security reflections, and future vision

Title: BONK Core Contributor Nom’s Latest Interview: Building in a Bear Market, Security Reflections, and Future Vision

Author: Rhythm BlockBeats

Source:

Repost: Mars Finance

Solana ecosystem’s most representative meme coin BONK’s core contributor Nom recently appeared on the podcast show “One-on-one.” He emphasized that BONK has surpassed the simple meme coin stage, and the interview covered topics such as current bear market strategies, security improvements after the BONK.fun domain hijacking incident, institutional funding and ETF narratives, brand IP expansion, and future visions.

BONK Recent Developments and Market Sentiment

Maximus: Welcome to the “One-on-one” podcast. Today, we’ve invited BONK’s core contributor Nom. Nom, a lot has happened with BONK recently; it has evolved from a meme coin into a large ecosystem with products like BONK.fun. How do you feel about this current bear market?

Nom: Undoubtedly, we are in a bear cycle of about 15 to 16 months. The good news is that the overall crypto market has shown some rebound, and traditional stock markets remain strong under macro pressures. But for BONK and the community, our goal remains the same as in 2023—how to create exciting things during the bear market, how to find teams willing to build products, how to bring people back on chain, rekindle interest in the community, and prepare for the next full bull run of altcoins.

So we are refocusing: what kind of things can truly create value for the community, not just serve token prices, but offer more engaging experiences for holders? How to find more meaningful partners? How to position ourselves ahead of the next wave of on-chain hot topics—whether it’s DeFi, meme coin trends, RWA and on-chain collectibles, or AI intelligent agents—each cycle brings exciting new developments. BONK’s goal is to stay ahead of these trends.

Domain Hijacking Incident and Lessons Learned

Maximus: I followed the domain hijacking incident in March. Your team handled it with a 110% compensation approach, which left a deep impression on me. Looking back, what was the biggest security lesson learned from this event?

Nom: We were very fortunate—the team responded quickly, identified the problem immediately, and promptly notified users within the ecosystem. The smart contract itself was secure, but the front end was compromised by a third party. This type of attack is social engineering, targeting not only crypto teams but also top-level domain providers and other technical ecosystem participants. Such incidents won’t disappear in the short term and are likely to continue during foreseeable bear cycles.

The BONK ecosystem relies on multiple decentralized teams, each with its own security measures, and collaborates with different third-party vendors. The composability of the crypto ecosystem is its strength but also introduces many hidden risks. Our current focus is to conduct comprehensive security audits of all products, check for potential attack vectors. Partners like Raydium are also implementing technical updates. BONK DAO relies on multi-signature architecture, which theoretically can prevent attacks like Drift. The most important lesson is: never assume you are fully secure—you are always in an arms race with those trying to exploit you.

After the incident, we managed to fully compensate users and provided additional reimbursements. The affected assets were frozen for several weeks; we identified all impacted addresses and issued compensations one by one, which was crucial for rebuilding trust. Of course, smaller incidents are easier to handle than multi-million dollar thefts—our hope is that the Drift and Aave incidents are the biggest issues we face in this cycle.

Principles of Foundation and Trust Building

Nom (continued): BONK was born after the 2022 Breakpoint conference and the FTX collapse, when the entire ecosystem was in chaos—many teams lost project treasuries, investment funds, and even user assets. At that time, we launched BONK with the goal of creating a new cross-protocol token in the post-FTX era. Even today, some are still pursuing claims against FTX, which shows the persistent risks of trusting third parties. That’s why we need to keep pushing for transparency, establish better insurance mechanisms, and ensure protocols can cover losses when issues arise.

Demand for BONK.fun and Growth Catalysts

Maximus: BONK.fun is approaching its one-year anniversary (around April 25). Q1 trading volume data looks very impressive. What do you think is driving this growth?

Nom: BONK, as a brand, has the ability to funnel users into various products. We’ve already validated this with Bonk Bot, and now we’re re-launching Bonk Bet with new partners, expected to go live in a few weeks. The strong user base of the community is the best resource for product cold starts. Of course, Solana now has several launchpads competing for market share—competition is good, as it helps identify truly valuable opportunities.

As for upcoming catalysts, several directions are worth watching: the competitive landscape of stablecoins (beyond USDC and USDT, Paxos’s USDG might enter Solana, bringing new opportunities); and more importantly, changing the token launch experience—not just the launch mode, but the overall trading experience.

Currently, the behavior of “battle-hardened traders” on chain has shifted significantly: profit-takers tend to hold positions for very short periods. In bear markets, everyone tends to lock in profits quickly to survive, leading to a market-wide “scarcity mentality.” To reverse this, we need sustained bullish runs that shift the market back to a “abundance mentality,” which takes 3 to 12 months and requires genuine price increases to change beliefs. I see signs of this momentum on Ethereum and hope it spreads more broadly.

Institutional Demand and ETF Narratives

Maximus: There’s a lot of discussion about ETFs and institutional interest in digital assets. Can BONK, as a fully developed ecosystem meme coin, benefit from this big narrative?

Nom: When talking about ETFs and institutional demand, the most obvious focus is Bitcoin and Ethereum, as many ETFs are actively being promoted. The main buying drivers are large entities like MicroStrategy and BitMine—“price-insensitive buyers”—whose strategy is to buy as much as possible each month, financing through public debt markets, to increase company value, then issuing more debt and stocks, creating a positive feedback loop.

ETFs serve as an entry point for institutions that previously had no crypto exposure. In the past, financial advisors or large institutions rarely recommended clients allocate to crypto, but some fund managers held FARTCOIN or BONK in personal accounts, and some family offices achieved good results trading meme coins and altcoins.

By 2026, this situation is beginning to change—large banks in the US, Europe, and Asia are starting to advise clients to allocate 1% to 5% of their portfolios to crypto. When retirement accounts regularly and unconditionally buy crypto, it will solidify the token’s bottom and reduce sell pressure during market corrections.

For BONK, the narrative of “why institutions should allocate to community tokens” is still forming, but the direction is clear. We’ve launched ETPs and applied for ETFs; the collaboration with Pudgy Penguins and VanEck is a good precedent—“cultural coins” can also seek institutional recognition. For BONK, revenue from product fees can be used to buy back tokens and inject into entities like BNKK. This mechanism actively reduces circulating supply without relying solely on external capital inflows.

In contrast, projects with continuous unlocking and expanding supply are hard to gain institutional trust—unless you have protocols like Hyperliquid, supported by substantial fee income for buybacks.

Expanding BONK IP (GIPHY, etc.)

Maximus: BONK is on GIPHY—was this a deliberate strategy or organic growth?

Nom: Since BONK’s inception, a strong group of content creators has been continuously producing—posting memes on Discord, Twitter, Telegram, creating various character images, and participating in merchandise and anime series development. This is an organic process of brand positioning.

The next challenge is: how to push this content to more people? Content dissemination is a competition; brands bombard users’ attention constantly. We spent years refining BONK’s content system and brand image, including Guinness World Record challenges, charity collaborations, and other activities, building a solid brand recognition foundation. Now, the goal is to expand this brand to a broader audience—not just within crypto but outside as well.

Pudgy Penguins has done a great job in this regard, showing how a Web3 brand can enter mainstream consumers’ view. BONK is learning from this path, and expanding IP is one of our top priorities.

Maximus: Does BONK have plans to further develop merchandise, film collaborations, or partnerships soon?

Nom: We previously launched the “Bao Bao” merchandise series, which was well received by the community (users can donate to animal welfare charity Buddies for Paws through merchandise purchases, with all proceeds fully donated globally). At the recent Breakpoint conference, we tested BONK mini-figures and blind boxes, gathering community feedback, with very positive results.

In the coming weeks and months, we will increase investment in this area, focusing on whether BONK’s IP can resonate with consumers outside crypto. Attracting our own community is important, but our real goal is to make BONK interesting and attractive to ordinary people outside the crypto space. This is currently a top strategic priority.

Community and Builder Acknowledgments

Nom: Whether you’re helping organize communities in Ukraine, promoting BONK’s Asian community, or working in different functional teams, the feedback from contributors worldwide is extremely valuable. NFT communities and Layer 1 ecosystems often gather truly cohesive groups during events. BONK’s goal is similar to Pudgy Penguins—continually creating exciting reasons for people, turning passive holders into active brand ambassadors.

In bear markets, many enter “waiting mode,” just trying to survive. But if you don’t take proactive action, it’s easy to be overtaken. That’s why we’re always looking for opportunities to act early and stay ahead of trends.

How to Participate in the BONK Ecosystem

Maximus: For newcomers wanting to get involved in BONK, what advice do you have?

Nom: The simplest and most direct ways are:

First, follow the BONK bi-weekly newsletter—this is the most comprehensive channel to stay updated on ecosystem developments, summarizing the latest progress from various teams every two weeks.

Second, join BONK’s Telegram, Discord, and Twitter—here, you’ll get first-hand updates on new user incentive campaigns, such as Bonk Trade promotions or new product launches for Bonk Fun.

Third, if you’re developing products or seeking advice, funding, or partnerships, you can contact us through the BONK partnership application form. Our partnership and business development team will take every application seriously.

The easiest way is: just build something and show us what you’ve made.

User Engagement and Consumer Applications

Maximus: Over the next year, what do you most want BONK to be known for?

Nom: If I had to pick just one thing, I hope BONK can create a truly exciting new product. When we collaborated with the Bonk Bot team, there were almost no trading terminals on Solana, and everyone heavily relied on EVM ecosystems. Bonk Bot’s work really brought more attention and opportunities to Solana. Later, our layout in the Launchpad space also opened new doors.

What I want to do next is to make breakthroughs outside of DeFi infrastructure—at the consumer app layer—creating things that don’t feel like “using crypto products.” We have several directions in progress with partners, but the core goal is one: to make it easy for ordinary people to enter the crypto ecosystem without the hurdles and pains of self-custody. I want BONK to be remembered for lowering barriers—making more people willing to manage their own assets instead of being scared off by complexity.

Maximus: This has been a fantastic conversation with Nom. Thank you all for tuning in. See you next time!