One trader turned a single ETH into over $470,000 in just a few hours. Another held a position for 580 days, keeping it at near zero, and then walked away with nearly $392,000. The two made money on the same token – a memecoin called Asteroid Shiba – after a two-word response from Elon Musk lit up cryptocurrency markets on Friday.
Asteroid Shiba: The wish that caused the frenzy
The story behind the token is different than most in the memecoin world. Asteroid Shiba was inspired by a plush Shiba Inu dog designed by Liv Perrotto, a 15-year-old girl who died after a battle with cancer.
The toy wasn’t just a craft project – it actually flew aboard a space mission as a zero gravity indicator. Before she left, Liv had one request for Musk: make Asteroid the official mascot of SpaceX.
ASTEROID’s market capitalization increased from $50,000 to a high of $23 million. What is this?
Asteroid is a Shiba Inu designed by Liv Perrotto, a 15-year-old girl with cancer who tragically passed away earlier this year.
She wanted to ask Elon if he would make Asteroid the SpaceX mascot. pic.twitter.com/WiKocpDX9P
— Arkham (@arkham) April 17, 2026
Musk replied to the post with three words: “I will respond soon.” That was enough. Within hours, the token’s market capitalization increased from around $50,000 to over $20 million.
Radio host Glenn Beck publicly shared Liv’s story, drawing broad attention to her connection to space exploration and her desire to reach out to Musk. As Musk’s response spread, investors reacted quickly.
Liv Perrotto’s biggest dream at the age of 15 was to meet @elonmusk. She even made a list of questions to ask him. Her mother @rebeccaperrotto she told me that a few days before she died of cancer, she had the opportunity to talk to Elon, but she was too tired and… pic.twitter.com/zTRMreMFhM
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) April 16, 2026
The whales and Degens rush inside
According to data provided by Arkham, token growth it was steep and swift. Reports indicate that traders – including buyers with immense wallets, known in cryptocurrency circles as whales – began arriving almost immediately after Musk’s comments appeared.
Data from Coingecko shows ASTEROID has exploded to over 68,000% in the last seven days.
Condition of the trenches:
Degens is betting on 5-6-digit positions that Elon Musk will take $Asteroid SpaceX mascot https://t.co/NU3LS3kucD pic.twitter.com/RXb4gOpNh8
— Wals (@walsxbt) April 17, 2026
The reports describe one trader betting a six-figure sum on the possibility of Musk formally adopting an asteroid as SpaceX’s symbol. Reports note that the token has gained additional momentum on Ethereum, where deeper market liquidity has helped fuel growth.
The first holder, who turned $21,000 into almost $392,000, held the position for a year and a half, earning returns close to zero. In this case, time made a difference.
What happens next depends on one man
The token has no product, roadmap or corporate support. Its entire value depends on Musk saying something more. Reports say that the rally was motivated solely by the story behind it – emotions, space connections and the open question of what Musk will do.
If it goes further, the token can climb further. If it goes mute, the price may fall as quickly as it rose.
As of Friday, Musk had not made any additional statement about Asteroid or SpaceX.
At the time of writing, ASTEROID’s price was down by 40% in the last 24 hours, after a massive 68,428% raise last week, according to Coingecko data.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView