Kekius Maximus falls as Elon Musk swaps X avi

Kekius Maximus meme coins on Ethereum and Solana plummet after Elon Musk changes his profile photo and X page name.

Kekius Maximus, a meme coin on Ethereum (ETH), crashed from its $380 million market cap on Jan. 2 after Musk removed the character from his X account’s name and avatar.

The Ethereum-based Kekius Maximus token launched on Dec. 14 as a playful mix of crypto jargon and pop culture. “Kek” is crypto slang for something funny or ridiculous, while “Maximus” references Maximus Decimus Meridius, the main character in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000).

Musk briefly adopted the Kekius Maximus name for his X page, referencing it in a video game-related tweet and again on New Year’s Eve. The attention drove the Ethereum-based Kekius Maximus token to soar over 30-fold, from $0.01 to $0.39.

Kekius Maximus tumbled to $0.07 and a $77 million market cap shortly after traders noticed Musk’s social media changes, according to DEX Screener. Copycat tokens on Solana (SOL) also collapsed as the hype faded. Musk explained the name swap was made to focus on pressing U.S. issues after a rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

Kekius Maximus winners

As with many meme coins, Kekius Maximus turned some early investors into millionaires—at least on paper. However, not all of the 24,000 holders realized gains before the token’s price collapsed.

One buyer cashed out $2.3 million in profits, but another trader missed out on 45,906% returns. The user bought $66 worth of Kekius Maximus and booked $201,000. LookOnChain data confirmed the investor could have made $3 million instead