Memecoin traders have found their next muse as Tesla board members approved a $1 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk.
Within hours of shareholders approving the deal on Thursday, at least half a dozen new tokens with names like “TRILLIONS,” “Elon’s $1” and “MUSK” flooded decentralized exchanges on Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain and other blockchains, DEXTools data shows.
Trade data shows that various versions of BILLIONS/SUN surged as much as 190% in 24 hours, and combined peer-to-peer volume surpassed $20 million on Friday morning.
However, some of these tokens lost all of their perceived value within minutes of going live, as the creators withdrew liquidity to effectively carry out an exit scam.
The mania reflects a familiar pattern in the cultural economy of cryptocurrencies, where major big moments involving Musk often spill over directly into the memecoin markets.
Traders are rushing to mint and trade tokens that reflect trending news or, in this case, the billionaire’s historic compensation package, which gives him 12 tranches of Tesla stock if the company hits milestones of up to a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion in the coming years.
While most of these Solana tokens are likely to be short-lived, some have already generated thousands of transactions in just a few hours, echoing previous waves related to Musk’s antics at X or Tesla’s AI ambitions.
The approval from Tesla shareholders, with more than 75% support, follows months of debate over Musk’s growing influence on Tesla, xAI, SpaceX and X.
The meeting also included a vote to allow Tesla to invest in xAI, deepening the billionaire’s cross-company ecosystem that increasingly overlaps with cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence.
Still, most of these tokens lack liquidity and are unlikely to last beyond the news cycle.
But as Musk continues to dominate both corporate headlines and internet culture, the memecoins bearing his name seem destined to keep making a comeback, whether tied to Tesla’s milestones or the next viral moment at X.
