One of BonkDAO's worst governance errors occurred after a dissenting proposal secretly passed and transferred about $20 million worth of BONK from the project's treasury. The attack did not take advantage of a protocol hole or a smart contract exploit. Instead, by disguising a plan that would deplete the treasury as a typical governance enhancement, it abused the DAO's governance process. Due to low voter attendance and concentrated voting power, the event illustrated how an attacker might control the outcome, leaving BonkDAO, exchanges, and ecosystem partners frantically searching for the stolen funds.

• Malicious BIP #76 Hid Treasury Transfer Behind Governance Changes
• Low Voter Turnout Allowed the Proposal to Pass
• BonkDAO Coordinates Recovery Efforts With Exchanges & Ecosystem Partners
• Team Member Unipcs Remains Confident Despite the Treasury Loss

Malicious BIP #76 Hid Treasury Transfer Behind Governance Changes

On June 30, the attack started when someone submitted BIP #76, "Sowellian BonkDAO." On the surface, the proposal seemed to be a typical community initiative, introducing reforms linked to rewards and governance.

However, instructions permitting the transfer of 4.426 trillion BONK tokens from the BonkDAO coffers were concealed within the proposal. Those tokens were valued at about $20 million at the time of execution.

The treasury transfer was mainly overlooked during the vote session because the plan was accompanied by what appeared to be valid governance reforms. The transfer instructions were already approved by the DAO's governance mechanism by the time the proposal was accepted, thus the attacker could empty the treasury without taking advantage of the underlying protocol.

Low Voter Turnout Allowed the Proposal to Pass

The incredibly low level of community participation was one of the incident's most noticeable features.

Only seven of the approximately 18,000 wallets that were eligible to vote on the proposal actually did so. One well-funded participant had the chance to control the voting process as a result of the low level of participation.

The attacker bought enough BONK tokens via Bybit and Binance to meet the governance quorum requirement before casting votes in support of the proposal, according to BonkDAO.

Despite only representing a small portion of the DAO's eligible voting base, the proposal passed with an overwhelming 99.9% approval once a quorum was obtained. The assault showed how governance mechanisms can be controlled when participation is limited, and a quorum can be reached by temporary accumulation of voting power, rather than revealing a technical flaw in the protocol.

BonkDAO Coordinates Recovery Efforts With Exchanges & Ecosystem Partners

BonkDAO started organising recovery activities throughout the larger Solana ecosystem as soon as the treasury drain occurred.

To track the stolen assets and determine the attacker's travels, the organisation is currently collaborating with Bybit, Binance, OKX, the Solana Foundation, and police enforcement.

Exchange collaboration is crucial to the current investigation because, according to the team's reports, a portion of the stolen BONK has already been moved to OKX. Through monitoring wallet activity and working with centralised exchanges, BonkDAO aims to find the perpetrator and possibly retrieve some of the pilfered funds.

Instead of just being an internal governance problem, the event has evolved into a coordinated probe, with several ecosystem members helping to track the flow of money across several platforms.

Team Member Unipcs Remains Confident Despite the Treasury Loss

Unipcs, a member of the BonkDAO team, has remained upbeat about the project's future despite the size of the treasury drain.

Unipcs acknowledged the roughly $20 million loss but said the BONK ecosystem is still strong and that they are certain the initiative would bounce back. While continuing to work with exchanges and investigators, the team's top goal is still to pursue the stolen assets.

Additionally, the attack has highlighted the governance process. The episode has brought attention to the hazards associated with low voter participation and governance systems that can be impacted by rapid token accumulation, as only seven individuals were able to decide the fate of a treasury that held trillions of BONK tokens.

As investigations continue, BonkDAO's focus remains on tracing the stolen 4.426 trillion BONK, working alongside ecosystem partners, and responding to one of the most significant governance-related treasury losses the project has faced.

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