GROK plummeted from its all-time high of $0.027 to a five-hour low of $0.007. The GROK development team sent approximately $1.7 million in tokens to a burned address.
On November 4, Elon Musk announced xAI’s launch of an early beta version of “Grok,” an AI language model, similar to ChatGPT, designed to respond to user queries with a mix of information and humor. Grok reportedly integrates access to real-time data from X and is apparently willing to address queries that might be rejected by other AI systems due to filters and content conditioning.
The term “grok” comes from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land. Since then, when a person is said to “groke” something, it implies that they have an intuitive understanding of a subject.
In a quick turn of events, the meme coin linked to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence project, Grok [GROK] experienced a staggering 70% drop in value following allegations from blockchain researcher ZachXBT.
On November 13, ZachXBT revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that GROK’s social media accounts and websites were repurposed from previous projects, notably an abandoned meme coin called ANDY:
“Not that people in this space will care but @GROKERC20 $GROK was created by a scammer. Same exact X/Twitter account has been reused for at least one other scam.”
ZachXBT supported its claims with screenshots, which reveal the apparent recycling of assets from the defunct ANDY project.
This revelation set off a cascade of events, causing GROK to plummet from $0.027 to a five-hour low of $0.007. The community anxiously watched the drastic drop and the value of GROK settled at $0.012, according to TradingView.
How Did the Grok Team Respond?
In response to the crisis, the Grok development team initiated a bold move by sending the token worth approximately $1.7 million to a burned address. This was shown in an Etherscan transaction highlighted by ZachXBT.
This strategic token burn was aimed at reducing supply and instilling confidence among shocked investors. The burn transaction involved a staggering 90 million GROK tokens, a significant effort to save the credibility of the token.
On November 14, the official Grok account on X (formerly Twitter) stated that they had incinerated the entire supply of the implementer’s address, which amounted to 180 million GROK and was valued at around $2 million: “all tokens from the deployer wallet has been 100% burnt.”
At its peak, GROK reached a price of $0.027. This boosted its market capitalization to almost $200 million. The meteoric rise of the meme coin began on November 5, coinciding with the presentation of Grok AI by Elon Musk, its supposed rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The following week witnessed a staggering 33,650% increase in GROK value. Meme coin traders, fueled by the fervor surrounding Musk’s AI company, had pushed this initiative.
Elon Musk’s Artificial Intelligence Project Faces Turbulence
Although still in its development phase, Grok has unique features that set it apart from its contemporaries. In particular, it is touted as more efficient than ChatGPT. It has an additional ability to access information in real time from various sources.
As an extensive language model (LLM), Grok is currently accessible to a select group of users. There are plans for a wider public release in the near future.
Grok’s versatility also allows it to find applications in various domains and industries. From helping with queries to providing real-time updates and offering humor, Grok serves educational, informational, entertainment, and customer service contexts, among others.
By Leonardo Perez
