The launch this week of Ani—the flirtatious, blonde‑pigtailed “Companion” that now greets paying users of xAI’s Grok chatbot—has ignited a fresh round of Musk‑themed crypto sleuthing.
Artist NARDO (@PepenardoStudio) was the first to point out that Ani’s gothic‑lolita corset, thigh‑high fishnets and dual ponytails are almost a line‑for‑line reprise of “Bitcoin Girl,” the anime heroine immortalised on the 2017 Counterparty trading card CCGBTCONE. “No one else seeing this connection? @grok’s ai companion is the same character as CCGBTCONE’s Bitcoin girl,” he wrote on X, tagging Elon Musk for good measure.
Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey joined the thread with trademark humor: “Elon, she’ll only love you if you own 1 % of all the Bitcoin.” Musk—who once revelled in the nickname “Dogefather”—has so far left the speculation unanswered.
Grok Companion Revives 2018 Bitcoin Meme
To Counterparty collectors, the model’s silhouette looks anything but accidental. CCGBTCONE—minted on 26 July 2017 as part of the Oasis Mining set—is one of just 300 cards and is marketed today as “one of the first Waifu NFTs” on Bitcoin. The project website devotes an entire panel to Musk’s past flirtations: the card first appeared in his feed in October 2018, resurfaced in a May 2020 spar with the @Bitcoin account and, most memorably, became his profile picture (complete with laser eyes) on 20 February 2021 for one day.
Musk’s first documented use of the character dates to 22 October 2018, when he tweeted an image of the girl in a BTC‑emblazoned dress alongside the caption “Wanna buy some Bitcoin?” Within minutes the post was viral; within hours Twitter locked Musk’s account on suspicion it had been hacked. “Twitter thought I got hacked & locked my account haha,” he complained after regaining access. Although the tweet landed ten months after BTC’s December 2017 all‑time‑high near $20 000, the anime cameo became lore in crypto culture and cemented Musk’s reputation for price‑moving memes.
Musk’s courtship with BTC escalated from memes to balance‑sheet dollars in February 2021, when Tesla disclosed a $1.5 billion purchase of BTC and said it would accept the coin for vehicle payments. The love affair cooled just 49 days later: Musk halted BTC payments over the network’s fossil‑fuel mix, sending the market tumbling more than 10 %. In July 2022 Tesla liquidated roughly 75 % of its holdings, adding $936 million. The manufacturer still holds an estimated 10,725 BTC.
If Ani hints at a retro flirtation, Musk’s newest venture makes his stance explicit. On 7 July the billionaire confirmed that his freshly announced “America Party” will embrace Bitcoin because “fiat is hopeless.” The comment aligns with continued treasury exposure at Tesla and SpaceX and underscores how Musk—despite tactical retreats—keeps BTC close to his personal brand.
Is Ani a clandestine shout‑out to CCGBTCONE or just another layer of Muskian irony? Musk’s AI Grok declines any connection: “There’s no definitive evidence to confirm that Grok’s AI companion, specifically the character Ani, is the same as CCGBTCONE’s Bitcoin Girl. […] Grok’s Ani is described as a goth-style anime girl with blonde pigtails, wearing a black corset, short dress, and thigh-high fishnets, resembling Misa Amane from *Death Note*.”
What is clear is the pattern: an anime avatar surfaces in Musk’s orbit, BTC chatter spikes and the community parses every pixel for clues. After seven years, the dialogue between Musk and Bitcoin has evolved from casual meme posts to treasury strategy and now to his upcoming party embracing it.
At press time, BTC traded at $117,938.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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