Kekius Maximus skyrockets inspired by Elon Musk, but scam warnings raise red flags.

A little-known memecoin, Kekius Maximus, surged over 120% after Elon Musk changed his profile name and avatar on X. Although Musk did not make a direct endorsement, his subtle branding change sparked renewed interest and speculative buying of the cryptocurrency. Analysts warn that the hype may be short-lived, with some projects exploiting the enthusiasm to launch scams that hold almost the entire supply of tokens.

A little-known memecoin called Kekius Maximus experienced a dramatic price increase on Friday, gaining more than 120% in just a few hours. The sudden rally followed the profile update of X (formerly Twitter) by Elon Musk. Musk's name change on X is often followed by these speculative spikes, but certain warning signs in KEKIUS are raising notable concerns.

Musk adopted the name “Kekius Maximus” on his X account and changed his avatar to an AI-generated image of himself in gladiator-style armor. This led to renewed interest in the cryptocurrency, which had mostly gone unnoticed in recent months.

According to data from CoinGecko, the memecoin surged from obscurity to a four-month high of $0.06. This is well below its all-time peak of $0.4011, set during a similar Musk-induced moment in January.

Meanwhile, the current surge brought the market capitalization of Kekius Maximus to approximately $57 million, which is also well below its previous high of $181 million.

The token's branding is based on the meme Pepe the Frog and the iconic character Maximus from the movie Gladiator. This combination aligns with Musk's branding shift and attracts his meme-savvy audience. Musk has not acknowledged the token nor suggested any direct involvement despite the meteoric rise of the memecoin.