On 14 October, copycat cryptocurrencies named after SpaceX surged after the successful test launch of Elon Musk’s Starship. The coins that are not affiliated with Musk’s aerospace firm, SpaceX, garnered massive price spikes across the platform from the attention gained during the launch.
The big winner perhaps was SPACEX, a token based on PancakeSwap that went up by a whopping 5,824% in 24 hours with its price rising to $0.012192 and leading to its market cap to hit $80,800.
Another token named after SpaceX, one that is based on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, also increased in value, going up 216% at its peak at the writing of writing, all while maintaining a market cap of $16,400.
Just inspected the Starship booster, which the arms have now placed back in its launch mount. Looks great!
A few outer engine nozzles are warped from heating & some other minor issues, but these are easily addressed.
Starship is designed to achieve reflight of its rocket… pic.twitter.com/oWZoOOfHmk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2024
Similar Tokens Follow Starship’s Flight Path
On the flip side, an NFT gaming token by the name of StarShip after SpaceX’s newly launched rocket, soared 0.9% before leveling at $0.0215 with a market cap of $404,251. Another Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-based token themed after the Starship rocket was made but not tracked on major platforms regarding its price moves.
Aside from injecting life back into cryptocurrencies, the actual Starship launch by SpaceX has been a technological mile-marker. The 400-foot-tall rocket launched near the Mexican border and curved over the Gulf of Mexico.
This flight has proven to be better than previous ones since the rocket was caught upon return by the “chopsticks” arms of the launch tower, rather than ending in an inferno like its predecessors.
The Benefits And Dangers Of Musk’s Crypto Influence
Despite not being directly associated with these tokens, Elon Musk has a definitive grip on the world of cryptocurrency. Already a Dogecoin champion, Musk’s short social media messages on X (formerly Twitter) have driven quick increases for Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and SHIBA INU in the past.
Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
Meanwhile, Musk said after the Starship flight, that the booster part of the rocket could be ready to launch in as little as an hour. “The booster returns within 5 minutes, so the remaining time will be for reloading propellant and placing a ship on top,” he explained.
While Musk enjoys a high profile in the crypto community, his name has also been used by scammers for malicious purposes. In April, we saw an influx of deepfake videos of Musk appearing on YouTube, promoting bogus SpaceX giveaways, which is coincidental as these events coincided with the solar eclipse that occurred on the same day.
These scams represent a dangerous aspect of the crypto market in general, further emphasizing the risks when it comes to public figures whose influence garners both real and false interest.
Featured image from KHOU, chart from TradingView