Elon Musk's Name Change Sparks 7,000% Gains in Gork-Themed Tokens

On 4 May, Elon Musk changed his X display name to “gorklon rust” and swapped his profile picture for a crudely drawn Gork meme – A parody of Grok, xAI’s chatbot known for its sass and satire. Within minutes, the memecoin markets responded with their usual blend of chaos and enthusiasm. A bunch of Gork-themed tokens appeared across blockchains, with some posting gains of up to 7,000% in a single day.

The Gork account – a satirical AI personality Musk frequently interacts with – saw its follower count skyrocket from around 86,000 to over 113,000 thanks to the added exposure. In typical Musk fashion, no explanation was offered, but the cryptosphere didn’t need one. The name change alone was enough to ignite a speculative firestorm, mirroring similar episodes where Musk’s online antics have moved markets before – From Dogecoin [DOGE] tweets to meme-laced profile pictures.

In the hours following Musk’s Twitter play, tokens branded “Gork” saw wild gains. One token labeled “New XAI Gork” on Solana hit a $59.8M market cap. Another version jumped by 131% in a day. In fact, even lower-cap variants raked in millions in liquidity. However, the real chaos came from the sudden birth of “Gorklon Rust” tokens, each seemingly competing to become the “official” Musk memecoin. One Solana-based Gorklon token spiked by 588% in 24 hours, while another collapsed by 95% after a brief pump – A classic rug pull pattern. Others surged by 81% and 15%, or in a complete flip, tanked by over 67%.

If history’s any indication, only a handful might survive past the weekend. And, even fewer with gains intact. In fact, some of the coins have already seen a drop in price on the charts. The rapid rise and fall of these memecoins underscore the speculative nature of the crypto market, where sudden shifts in sentiment can lead to dramatic price movements. Musk's influence, combined with the community's eagerness to capitalize on his actions, has once again demonstrated the power of social media in driving market trends. As the dust settles, it remains to be seen which, if any, of these Gork-themed tokens will endure beyond the initial hype.