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The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has sparked speculation after changing his name on his social media platform X to “Kekius Maximus”. <\/p>\n
The tech mogul – and close confidant of US President-Elect Donald Trump – offered no immediate explanation for the name or his new profile image which depicts the character Pepe the Frog – a meme that has been used by far-right groups. <\/p>\n
The move has sent ripples through the cryptocurrency world, sending the value of a memecoin – a digital currency inspired by internet memes – that shares the same name skyrocketing. <\/p>\n
In the past, Mr Musk has influenced crypto prices with his social media commentary, but it was not immediately clear if he had any involvement in this particular memecoin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Kekius” appears to be a Latinisation of “kek”, a word roughly equivalent to “laugh out loud” popularised by gamers but now often associated with the alt right.<\/p>\n
“Kek” is also the name of the ancient Egyptian god of darkness, who is sometimes depicted with the head of a frog. <\/p>\n
Many people would link “Maximus” to the name of Russell Crowe’s heroic character in the film Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius.<\/p>\n
Mr Musk’s new profile image depicts Pepe in Roman military dress holding what appears to be a game console. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n