TL;DR
- A profile update by Musk on X sent obscure meme coins soaring, proving once again his strong influence over speculative crypto assets.
- However, the peaks of those tokens were short-lived as they headed south just as quickly, showcasing the notorious volatility of the meme coin niche.
Musk Makes Waves Again
One of the wealthiest individuals globally, Elon Musk, has a well-documented history of impacting cryptocurrency markets through his public statements, profile changes, and numerous interactions on social media. Most recently, Musk altered his account name on X (formerly Twitter) to “gorklon rust,” while prominently featuring the logo of the newly-launched meme coin, New XAI Gork (GORK), as his profile picture.
This action led to an immediate surge in GORK’s value, which soared by approximately 75%, reaching around $0.0832, according to CoinGecko’s data. However, this peak proved fleeting, as the token soon receded to $0.0678, albeit still showing daily gains. The market capitalization for GORK briefly exceeded $80 million before settling at around $67 million at the time of this writing.
GORK draws inspiration from the AI chatbot Grok, developed by xAI—an organization founded by Musk himself. Grok differentiates itself by offering humorous alternatives to traditional AI assistants like ChatGPT and is integrated extensively within the X platform.
Other meme coins also experienced marked volatility following Musk’s profile update. For instance, the token $GROK saw an impressive increase; however, its gains were short-lived, with a substantial portion of its value evaporating shortly after Musk’s initial influence.
One of the Previous Cases
This recent development mirrors earlier instances where Musk’s tweets or profile changes dramatically affected various cryptocurrencies. A notable case occurred several months ago when the price of another meme coin surged dramatically in response to Musk’s actions.
At the end of the previous year, Tesla’s CEO changed his profile picture on X to an image of Kekius Maximus—a frog donned in ancient Roman armor. This prompted a staggering price increase for the frog-themed meme coin KEKIUS, which skyrocketed nearly 4,000% within a single day. Ultimately, this rapid rally enabled savvy investors to turn modest initial investments into significant financial gains.
However, as is often the case with meme coins, the exuberance proved temporary. Within 24 hours of Musk’s departure from the Kekius persona, KEKIUS’s valuation plummeted by 60%, continuing a downward trend that has seen it decline nearly 90% from its peak.
This pattern underscores the inherent risks associated with investing in meme coins, which can be susceptible to sudden enthusiasm and relentless fluctuations. Potential investors should conduct thorough research and only commit capital that they are prepared to lose, as the volatility in this niche remains a rampant reality.
The post Elon Musk Did It Again: These Meme Coins Skyrocketed After His Interaction on X appeared first on CryptoPotato.
