Elon Musk is back at it again, this time igniting a wildfire of speculation in the cryptocurrency world with his recent decision to change his display name on X to "Harry Bōlz."
While some may see this as a playful jab—interpreting the name as a sassy reference to genitals—the implications resonate far deeper within the crypto community. Crypto traders, always on the lookout for the next speculative wave, promptly reacted, causing a surge in the value of a little-known cryptocurrency that shares the same name. This is just another example of how Musk’s whimsy has the uncanny ability to whip financial markets into a frenzy.
“Almost immediately, a new coin Harry Bōlz (HarryBōlz) was launched on Solana’s PumpFun and gained an astonishing 17,000% rise in value in less than 30 minutes,” reports The Crypto Times.
Within just two minutes of its launch, the coin shot up by a massive 500%. But it didn’t stop there. It exploded by an astonishing 17,994%, hitting a market cap of $3.68 million. Of course, the volatility didn’t end with the highs. As is typical with meme coins, the price then plummeted by 85% from its peak, yet maintained a 3300% high.
Currently, Harry Bōlz memecoin is priced at $0.0022, but with Musk’s influence, who knows where this could go. It’s anyone’s guess whether this is just another viral joke or if it’ll become the next big thing in the crypto world.
Of course, this isn’t Musk’s first dance with the "Harry Bōlz" nickname; he previously employed it back in April 2023, proving this is part of a larger pattern of whimsical antics. Currently, Musk is leading a group of investors that is attempting to acquire OpenAI for an eye-popping $97.4 billion—a move that has only amplified scrutiny on his recent behavior.
The bid submitted to OpenAI’s board of directors on Monday intensifies Musk’s battle with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman.
‘It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,’ stated Musk through his lawyer Marc Toberoff, who sent the bid, according to The Wall Street Journal.
‘We will make sure that happens.’
Altman quickly responded to Musk on X (formerly Twitter), which the latter owns.
‘No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,’ wrote Altman.
The offer is backed by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, venture heads including Valor Equity Partners and entertainment mogul Ari Emanuel, among others.
OpenAI was co-founded by Altman and Musk in 2015 as a charity and Musk left in 2019.
OpenAI proceeded to form a for-profit subsidiary that has allowed it to raise funds from investors including Microsoft. Altman has been trying to convert the subsidiary into a traditional company, and if it pans out, it would be one of the biggest conversions of a charity into a for-profit business of all time.
OpenAI was co-founded as a nonprofit by Sam Altman and Elon Musk in 2015, but Musk parted ways with the organization in 2019. This unsolicited bid represents a major escalation in Musk’s already fraught relationship with Altman, whose shift from a nonprofit to a for-profit model strayed from the altruistic mission Musk believes was the organization’s original purpose.
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