Elon Musk revives ‘Kekius Maximus’ persona, triggers new meme coin gold rush

Several meme coins referencing “Kekius Maximus” saw dramatic price increases on Friday after Elon Musk updated his X profile name to the same moniker.

A token trading under the name Kekius Maximus ($KEKIUS) jumped more than 1,700% in less than six hours, according to data from CoinGecko.

Other similarly named tokens also posted double- and triple-digit gains amid renewed interest driven by Musk’s online activity.

This isn’t the first time Musk has adopted the “Kekius Maximus” identity on X. He first called himself Kekius Maximus on X back on December 31, 2024, which resulted in a rapid 1,200% spike in a meme token sharing the same name.

However, the original token only gained around 130% this time, data shows.

What is ‘Kekius Maximus’ again?

Kekius Maximus is a mashup of Pepe the Frog, a long-running internet meme, and Maximus, the Roman general from the film Gladiator. The persona blends satire and internet culture in a way that has become typical of Musk’s posts on X.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has frequently changed his X display name, often sparking meme coin frenzies in the process.

In February, Musk temporarily switched his X name to ‘Harry Bōlz,’ which triggered a flood of Bōlz-themed tokens that pumped and dumped almost as fast as they appeared.