Kekius Maximus, a meme coin, surged over 120% on Could 17, 2025, after Elon Musk modified his X profile identify to “Kekius Maximus.” He additionally up to date his avatar to an AI picture exhibiting himself in gladiator armor. Musk didn’t point out Kekius Maximus in any publish.
The token shortly gained consideration throughout crypto circles. TradingView information exhibits Kekius Maximus jumped from near-zero to a excessive of $0.06. The final time the meme coin spiked was in January 2025, when it hit $0.4011 throughout one other Musk-related second.
Kekius Maximus had proven little buying and selling exercise earlier than this. The profile replace introduced the token again into focus, pushing each its quantity and price upward in a brief window.
Kekius Maximus Market Cap Climbs to $57 Million
Following the spike, Kekius Maximus reached a market cap of almost $57 million. This stays decrease than its earlier all-time excessive of $181 million. That stage was seen throughout its January rally, additionally linked to Musk’s exercise on X.
The meme coin’s branding combines the Pepe the Frog meme with the Maximus character from the 2000 movie Gladiator. The identify and design match Elon Musk’s profile replace however there is no such thing as a official hyperlink between him and Kekius Maximus.
Musk has influenced different meme cash prior to now, together with Dogecoin. Whereas he has not talked about Kekius Maximus, his on-line exercise has led to speculation-based actions in earlier circumstances.
The present rise in Kekius Maximus mirrors these earlier developments, pushed by customers reacting to small profile updates with out direct bulletins.
Kekius Maximus Rip-off Warning: One Pockets Controls 99% Provide
Whereas Kekius Maximus gained consideration, a warning was issued a couple of suspicious token linked to its identify. On Could 17, an analyst on X flagged a Kekius Maximus good contract the place the deployer pockets held 99% of the token provide.
The token, listed below tackle 6m51rC2jRZkrtQkNNP4sXrSTE6Yq76F9huA8MYRtpump, seemed to be managed by a single group. A publish learn,
“$KEKIUS (CA 6m51rC2j…) is a blatant obvious scam, don’t buy this garbage…they have 99% of the supply.”
Information shared by Nova confirmed that just about all the token provide sat in only one pockets. The focus raised issues about dumping and unfair promoting practices, that are frequent in meme coin scams.
Analysts clarified that this rip-off token was separate from the unique Kekius Maximus. Nonetheless, each tokens use the identical branding, which might mislead merchants unfamiliar with contract particulars.
Meme Coin Sample Repeats With Kekius Maximus Response
This isn’t the primary time a meme coin like Kekius Maximus has reacted to Elon Musk’s profile exercise. Previous tokens linked to Musk have proven comparable short-term rallies, particularly when his on-line actions match sure token themes.
Kekius Maximus had minimal visibility earlier than Could 17. The spike got here shortly after Musk’s profile modifications. Regardless of no tweet or assertion from Musk, the meme coin’s price and market cap rose quickly.
Many buyers nonetheless reply to oblique alerts from Musk. This sample has been seen with Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and different meme cash that surged on meme references, picture modifications, or tweets.