The launch this week of Ani—the flirtatious, blonde‑pigtailed “Companion” that now greets paying customers of xAI’s Grok chatbot—has ignited a recent spherical of Musk‑themed crypto sleuthing.
Artist NARDO (@PepenardoStudio) was the primary to level out that Ani’s gothic‑lolita corset, thigh‑excessive fishnets and twin ponytails are virtually a line‑for‑line reprise of “Bitcoin Woman,” the anime heroine immortalised on the 2017 Counterparty buying and selling card CCGBTCONE. “Nobody else seeing this connection? @grok’s ai companion is identical character as CCGBTCONE’s Bitcoin woman,” he wrote on X, tagging Elon Musk for good measure.
Bitcoin Journal CEO David Bailey joined the thread with trademark humor: “Elon, she’ll solely love you in case you personal 1 % of all of the Bitcoin.” Musk—who as soon as revelled within the nickname “Dogefather”—has up to now left the hypothesis unanswered.
Grok Companion Revives 2018 Bitcoin Meme
To Counterparty collectors, the mannequin’s silhouette appears to be like something however unintentional. CCGBTCONE—minted on 26 July 2017 as a part of the Oasis Mining set—is one in all simply 300 playing cards and is marketed at this time as “one of many first Waifu NFTs” on Bitcoin. The undertaking web site devotes a complete panel to Musk’s previous flirtations: the cardboard first appeared in his feed in October 2018, resurfaced in a Might 2020 spar with the @Bitcoin account and, most memorably, grew to become his profile image (full with laser eyes) on 20 February 2021 for sooner or later.
Musk’s first documented use of the character dates to 22 October 2018, when he tweeted a picture of the woman in a BTC‑emblazoned gown alongside the caption “Wanna purchase some Bitcoin?” Inside minutes the publish was viral; inside hours Twitter locked Musk’s account on suspicion it had been hacked. “Twitter thought I obtained hacked & locked my account haha,” he complained after regaining entry. Though the tweet landed ten months after BTC’s December 2017 all‑time‑excessive close to $20 000, the anime cameo grew to become lore in crypto tradition and cemented Musk’s repute for worth‑transferring memes.
Musk’s courtship with BTC escalated from memes to steadiness‑sheet {dollars} in February 2021, when Tesla disclosed a $1.5 billion buy of BTC and mentioned it will settle for the coin for car funds. The love affair cooled simply 49 days later: Musk halted BTC funds over the community’s fossil‑gas combine, sending the market tumbling greater than 10 %. In July 2022 Tesla liquidated roughly 75 % of its holdings, including $936 million. The producer nonetheless holds an estimated 10,725 BTC.
If Ani hints at a retro flirtation, Musk’s latest enterprise makes his stance specific. On 7 July the billionaire confirmed that his freshly introduced “America Occasion” will embrace Bitcoin as a result of “fiat is hopeless.” The remark aligns with continued treasury publicity at Tesla and SpaceX and underscores how Musk—regardless of tactical retreats—retains BTC near his private model.
Is Ani a clandestine shout‑out to CCGBTCONE or simply one other layer of Muskian irony? Musk’s AI Grok declines any connection: “There’s no definitive proof to verify that Grok’s AI companion, particularly the character Ani, is identical as CCGBTCONE’s Bitcoin Woman. […] Grok’s Ani is described as a goth-style anime woman with blonde pigtails, carrying a black corset, quick gown, and thigh-high fishnets, resembling Misa Amane from *Demise Observe*.”
What is evident is the sample: an anime avatar surfaces in Musk’s orbit, BTC chatter spikes and the group parses each pixel for clues. After seven years, the dialogue between Musk and Bitcoin has advanced from informal meme posts to treasury technique and now to his upcoming occasion embracing it.
At press time, BTC traded at $117,938.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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