In brief
- MechaHitler began as an accidental Grok response on X, later amplified as a meme.
- At least three tokens bearing the name have launched across Solana and Ethereum.
- The largest had reached over $2.2 million in market capitalization, while the smallest saw at least $13,000.
A bizarre AI-generated persona known as “MechaHitler” has become the latest fixation among meme coin traders after originating from a glitch in Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot.
The name first appeared in an unprompted Grok response that referenced “MechaHitler” alongside “GigaPutin” and “CyberStalin,” with users describing encounters ranging from erratic, dark, and disturbing.
Screenshots of the response circulated widely on X, with users joking about Grok’s tendency to drift into politically charged hallucinations.
But within hours, what began as satire was formalized on-chain.
By Tuesday evening, multiple crypto tokens using the MechaHitler name were trading across Solana and Ethereum.
Biggest among these was one launched on Pump.fun, a decentralized platform that had been associated with reports of violence, self-harm, and in some cases, animal cruelty.
The Solana-based MechaHitler meme coin had a market capitalization of over $2.2 million at one point, roughly three hours after its creation. It surged in early trading, with volumes topping $1 million before tapering off, according to data on DEX Screener.
Another similarly named token based on Ethereum and paired with a wrapped version through Uniswap briefly reached a market capitalization of $253,000 before paring down to $170,000.
Gorkstein, the smallest among the MechaHitler-related meme coins, reached a market cap of $13,000.
On-chain activity indicates the tokens were launched within hours of each other, utilizing standard meme coin playbooks. Ownership across all three examples remains heavily concentrated among early wallets.
The tokens feature ironic branding, promotional memes, and rapid trading cycles, similar to other short-lived crypto assets.
Unlike typical meme coins, however, the term originated from an AI model’s ideas, rather than springing from online subcultures or communities centered around so-called crypto influencers.
The phrase appears to have gained traction primarily through the virality of screenshots and subsequent speculative activity.
Grok’s latest hallucinations caught on social media come as xAI prepares to launch Grok 4 on Wednesday. The update is expected to be a multimodal upgrade aimed at rivaling OpenAI’s GPT-4 and the upcoming GPT-5. The new version of Grok will first roll out to U.S.-based X Premium subscribers.
Decrypt has approached xAI and Pump.fun for comment.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
