Elon Musk’s Father Enters the Meme Coin Frenzy with Musk It (MUSKIT)

Elon Musk’s father clarified that his son has no connection to the meme coin. Meanwhile, Ross Ulbricht reportedly lost $12 million in a meme coin trading mishap due to liquidity pool mispricing, which caused a big drop in the ROSS token’s value. On the political front, Donald Trump expanded the utility of his TRUMP meme coin by allowing holders to purchase branded merchandise.

Errol Musk Joins the Meme Coin Trend

Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, is reportedly joining the growing list of people launching meme coins after US President Donald Trump. Trump introduced the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin on Jan. 18, which was then quickly followed by the Melania Meme (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19. Both tokens were launched on the Solana network. Overall, it seems like the surge in retail interest in meme coins encouraged more high-profile figures to explore the space.

Errol Musk is now looking to raise as much as $200 million through his own token project called Musk It (MUSKIT). The ultimate goal of the project will be to fund a for-profit think tank called the Musk Institute. 

The meme coin was originally launched on Dec. 12 of 2024, by a Middle Eastern cryptocurrency company. The token struggled to gain momentum and lost over 52% of its value since launch. However, at press time, MUSKIT was trading hands at $0.03838 after its price surged by more than 200% over the past 24 hours.

MUSKIT all-time price action (Source: CoinMarketCap)

Despite the Musk name carrying a lot of influence, the project may face an uphill battle without Elon Musk’s direct involvement. Errol Musk also openly clarified that his son has no connection to the meme coin project. 

According to intergovernmental blockchain expert Anndy Lian, the absence of Elon Musk’s endorsement could limit the token’s potential, as much of the hype surrounding these kinds of projects often stems from Elon’s personal influence. Lian pointed out that while Trump family meme coins have seen impressive traction, Musk It may not achieve the same level of success without the backing of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Even so, meme coins are still an attractive proposition for investors looking for more high-risk, high-reward opportunities. Lian describes them as the “lottery tickets of the digital world.” Crypto traders often search for the next big opportunity, hoping to capitalize on quick price surges despite the inherent volatility and lack of underlying utility that often go hand in hand with meme coins.

While meme coins can be highly speculative, some traders have managed to achieve extraordinary returns. On Dec. 14, a crypto trader turned a $27 investment into a staggering $52 million by riding the Pepe (PEPE) meme coin rally. The trader had to hold on to the investment for over 600 days. 

Similarly, on Jan. 6, another trader transformed a $2,000 investment into $3.2 million in just 10 hours by taking advantage of the Hyperfy (HYPER) metaverse token’s explosive gains. However, without strong branding or influential backing, many of these projects struggle to sustain long-term interest.

Ross Ulbricht Loses $12M in Meme Coin Mishap

Meme coins are turning quite a few heads in the crypto space at the moment, but not always for the right reasons. Ross Ulbricht, the recently pardoned creator of Silk Road, reportedly lost $12 million in a meme coin trading blunder, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. 

Ulbricht, or someone operating his crypto wallets, mistakenly impacted the price of a fan-made meme coin called ROSS while trying to provide liquidity on the decentralized exchange Raydium. Arkham shared more details about the incident in a post on Jan. 30, and explained that the error allowed a maximal extractable value (MEV) bot to capitalize on the mispricing.

By setting up the liquidity pool at the wrong price, $1.5 million worth of ROSS tokens, or 5% of the total supply, was immediately acquired by an MEV bot and sold into the existing pool. These bots are designed to scan for and execute profitable trades automatically, which allows them to fully take advantage of these opportunities within seconds.

The mistake was then repeated, and caused an even greater loss. This time, $10.5 million worth of tokens, or roughly 35% of the supply, were lost. Arkham explained that Ulbricht tried to add single-sided liquidity to sell the tokens passively but inadvertently created a pool using Raydium’s Constant-Product Market Maker (CPMM) instead of the intended Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM). This allowed yet another MEV bot to execute the trade, selling the tokens for a profit of over $600,000.

As a result of these transactions, ROSS experienced a 90% price drop. However, despite the heavy losses, the token showed a good rebound. Data from DEX Screener indicates that ROSS is trading around one cent, marking a 600% increase over the past day.

ROSS stats (Source: Dex Screener)

The crypto wallets involved in these transactions are linked to FreeRoss.org, which is a campaign led by Ulbricht’s family advocating for his release. The Solana donation address affiliated with the campaign received 50% of the ROSS supply from its developer. Even after the losses, Arkham noticed that the wallets still hold approximately 10% of the token’s supply, valued at around $200,000.

Ulbricht is most well known for running the infamous online black market Silk Road, and was arrested in 2013. He got sentenced to a double life sentence plus 40 years in 2015 for his role in facilitating illegal transactions using Bitcoin. However, he recently received a full presidential pardon from President Donald Trump.

TRUMP Meme Coin Gains Utility

Donald Trump also recently expanded the utility of his official meme coin by allowing holders to buy merchandise like sneakers, watches, and fragrances with the TRUMP token. This is a big move for the 47th president of the United States when considering the fact that he once dismissed cryptocurrency as having no real value. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the three websites accepting TRUMP for purchases—GetTrumpSneakers.com, GetTrumpWatches.com, and GetTrumpFragrances.com—are owned by CIC Ventures LLC, which is a company linked to Trump. The sites also accept Bitcoin as payment.

By tying TRUMP to real-world products, the former speculation-driven token gains new utility. According to Solscan, the meme coin has around 700,000 holders, although 80% of the supply is controlled by Trump Organization affiliates. 

Trump’s involvement in cryptocurrency continues to expand despite concerns over potential conflicts of interest. His media company, Trump Media and Technology Group, recently announced plans to enter financial services, including cryptocurrency investment vehicles. After the announcement, shares of the company surged by 8% in early trading.

Since returning to the White House, Trump positioned himself as the first openly pro-crypto US president. His administration already took steps like pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and forming a task force in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a clear regulatory framework for digital assets.