Elon Musk’s recent name change on X to “Kekius Maximus” triggered a massive surge in a memecoin, $KEKIUS, transforming a $66 investment into a $3 million windfall in just 18 days.
The trader who made the move purchased 10.17 million Kekius Maximus tokens ($KEKIUS) on Dec. 14, 2024, and sold 2.81 million for 60.3 Ether on Jan. 1, 2025, earning an extraordinary 45,900-fold return, according to Lookonchain.
The KEKIUS token is a quirky fusion of the popular Pepe the Frog meme and Maximus, the hero of the movie *Gladiator*, played by Russell Crowe. Launched on Dec. 13, 2024, KEKIUS quickly gained traction and accumulated to $11.4 million before reaching a peak market cap of $380 million by Jan. 1.
However, after Musk changed his profile back to his original name, the token’s market cap dropped to $100.5 million. Still, over 23,600 investors continue to hold the ERC-20 tokens, according to CoinGecko.
Musk also fueled the hype with AI-generated images of a Pepe-inspired gladiator in the Colosseum, attracting 49.8 million views on X. This helped further propel the token’s price before the drop. Despite similar memecoins launched on Solana failing to gain traction, KEKIUS maintained strong interest.
However, Musk’s focus shifted on Jan. 1, after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, sparking an investigation into possible terrorism. Despite the fall in price, KEKIUS remains a hot topic among traders.
Also Read: Kekius Maximus Token Soars 500% as Elon Updates his Profile on X
