Pepe and cryptocurrencies tied to "Kekius Maximus" rallied Sunday night after tech mogul Elon Musk changed his X avatar to one centered on the fictional character.

What happened: Solana SOL/USD-based Kekius Maximus soared 7% in the last 24 hours to a market capitalization of $1.8 million, according to CoinMarketCap.

Alongside, Ethereum ETH/USD-based frog-themed PEPE popped over 5%, becoming one of the market's biggest gainers in the 24-hour period. Notably, PEPE's trading volume nearly tripled to $2.19 billion, making it the second-most traded meme coin after Dogecoin DOGE/USD.

Top Gainer (24-Hours)

The rally comes after Musk changed his X profile name to Kekius Maximus and updated his profile picture, depicting him as an ancient warrior called “Emperor Kekius Maximus.”

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Screenshot From Elon Musk’s X Account

See Also: Anthony Scaramucci Says Once Bitcoin Hits $500,000 It Will Be Considered An Asset Class Just Like Gold

Kekius Maximus—a combination of "Pepe the Frog" and “Maximus Decimus Meridius,” the iconic character from the movie Gladiator—shot to prominence after Musk used it as his X profile name on New Year's Eve 2024. The coin exploded 600%, accumulating millions in market capitalization.

However, the asset lost all its gains after Musk abandoned the avatar. Since then, the speculative asset has experienced brief bursts of dramatic growth, aided, of course, by Musk’s social media activity.

Benzinga Note: Investing in meme coins that lack community support is highly speculative and involves significant risk. They often lack intrinsic value and are driven by market sentiment, social media trends, and speculative trading.

Shutterstock/Joshua Sukoff

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