Elon Musk changes his X profile picture before the new year 2025.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump, has changed his profile picture to that of “Pepe the Frog”, a popular cartoon character, dressed in ancient Roman clothing and holding a video game controller.

In typical Musk fashion, the tech mogul and owner of X — formerly Twitter — offered no explanation for the new username and profile picture, but the move went viral immediately.

The change has rocked the cryptocurrency world, sending the value of memecoin — a digital currency inspired by an internet meme — of the same name soaring.

It also raised questions among netizens: Was the name change just for laughs? Was there a hidden message? Was this another elaborately disguised attempt to shake up the cryptocurrency market?

Musk’s new nickname appears to be a combination of “Maximus Decimus Meridius” – the Roman general played by Russell Crowe in the 2000 hit film Gladiator – and “kek” – a phrase popular among right-wingers and internet trolls, used as a variation of “LOL” or laughing out loud.

Pepe the Frog was originally a cartoon character from the Boys’ Club comic strip. But during Mr Trump’s first presidential campaign, he became associated with the far right.

“The vast majority of people who use Pepe the Frog are not prejudiced and continue to be,” the ADL wrote on its website. However, as the meme spread online, it focused on “racist, anti-Semitic, or other themes,” the ADL added.

Before changing his account name, Musk posted a teaser on X: “Kekius Maximus will soon reach level 80 in hardcore PoE.” PoE is an apparent reference to the popular video game Path Of Exile 2. The billionaire is known to play the game and called it the “game of fame” in a December 2024 post on X.

According to CoinGecko, after Musk changed his name, the value of the memecoin Kekius Maximus skyrocketed more than 1,600% as of the evening of December 31, 2024.

Musk has previously sent cryptocurrency prices soaring with his social media comments, but it remains unclear whether he has anything to do with this particular memecoin.

Musk, an adviser to the incoming Trump administration, has been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with cutting government spending. The billionaire’s account on X has grown in influence since he acquired the platform for $44 billion in 2022.