On Jan. 1, the Ethereum-based meme coin Kekius Maximus (KEKIUS) experienced a market surge, reaching a peak market capitalization of $380 million.
On Jan. 1, the Ethereum-based meme coin Kekius Maximus (KEKIUS) experienced a market surge, reaching a peak market capitalization of $380 million.
This sudden spike followed Elon Musk’s brief name change on the social media platform X, where he adopted the moniker “Kekius Maximus,” a nod to the Pepe the Frog meme and the character Maximus from the film Gladiator.
A trader capitalizing on this volatility turned an initial investment of $66 in Ether into profits nearing $3 million over 18 days.
On Dec. 14, the trader purchased 10.17 million KEKIUS tokens and later sold 2.81 million for 60.3 Ether on Jan. 1, achieving a paper gain of approximately 45,900x their original investment, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.
The KEKIUS token was created on Dec. 13, with its market cap climbing from $11.4 million on Dec. 31 to $380 million at its peak.
Following Musk's name change back to his original profile, the market cap has since declined to around $100.5 million, but over 23,600 investors continue to hold the ERC-20 tokens.
Musk's involvement with the meme coin was amplified by his posts featuring AI-generated images of a Pepe-inspired character in a battle setting within Rome’s Colosseum, attracting substantial engagement, including 48.2 million views on one post.
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