Solana’s price made a sharp 10% rebound after a massive $55 million transfer from the memecoin platform Pump.fun to the Kraken exchange. The SOL price jumped to over $200 on January 1st after briefly dipping to $189 earlier in the day. The first transfer of $22.8 million occurred at 4:37 pm UTC, followed by a second transfer of $32.7 million at 5:45 pm UTC, according to Solscan data. This surge came less than an hour after the second transaction, marking an impressive turnaround for the cryptocurrency.
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Elon Musk’s brief name change to “Kekius Maximus” on X wasn’t just quirky—it turned a lucky trader’s $66 of Ethereum into a staggering $3 million. According to Lookonchain, the trader snagged 10.17 million Kekius Maximus (KEKIUS) tokens on Dec. 14, only to see the memecoin skyrocket after Musk adopted the name, a mashup of the Pepe meme and Russell Crowe’s Gladiator character.
The KEKIUS token, created just a day before the trader’s buy, reached an eye-watering $380 million market cap by Jan. 1, fueled by Musk’s antics and his AI-generated Pepe-inspired Gladiator memes. One post alone racked up over 48 million views on X, adding even more fuel to the memecoin rally.
KEKIUS Loses Steam but Holds a Loyal Base
Musk’s return to his regular profile name was a buzzkill for KEKIUS. The token’s market cap plunged to $100 million, but over 23,600 investors still hold their tokens, according to CoinGecko.
Musk’s NYE Took a Grim Turn
Musk’s New Year took a grim turn when a rented Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Calling the explosion a potential terror act caused by a bomb or fireworks, Musk commented on the situation as authorities launched an investigation.
