Shiba Inu (SHIBUSD) grew ten times its price in a single month recently and achieved a market cap of $35 billion. This put it at the 10th position among all cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. This Traditional Financial Systems Ethereum-based altcoin and the often touted “Dogecoin killer” has been the most discussed cryptocurrency in 2021.
Having banked on Elon Musk’s social media mention, following which its price surged dramatically, this meme coin is themed on a Japanese breed of dog. Given its minuscule price, it is still one of the most popular cryptos in the world.
So, what is Shiba Inu, how does it work, and what are its pros and cons? All these questions are answered here.
What is the Shiba Inu Meme Coin?
Shiba Inu was founded in August 2020 by Ryoshiand runs as a decentralized computer network that runs on a blockchain database. This altcoin is especially based on the Ethereum blockchain, leveraging the functionality and safety of the proven.
This cryptocurrency currently trades for just fractions. A single coin, known as a SHIB, currently trades at around $ 0.000039. Despite this negligible price, it has a market cap of over $21 billion, as over 549 trillion coins are in circulation. Its authorized cap is set at around 1 quadrillion. Almost 40% of the coins have so far been ‘burnt’ and are no longer in circulation.
The Most Viewed Cryptocurrency
Shiba Inu was ranked as the most viewed crypto in 2021. It was viewed more than Bitcoin. Its price and popularity spiked positively after Elon Musk shared a picture of the coin’s mascot heading to the moon.
In October 2021, the altcoin had a 22% share among all the crypto asset discussions online. Ethereum and Bitcoin were far behind at around 8% and 7%.
There has also been news of Shibu Inu’s online supporters pressing Robinhood to list the coin on its platform. Robinhood is a widely popular stock trading application.
How Does the Dogecoin Killer Work?
Since Shiba Inu is based on the Ethereum platform, it is compatible with this ecosystem. There are 3 tokens and a few services within the Shiba Inu ecosystem. The tokens are as follows:
- SHIB: SHIB is the primary currency in the project. It is what powers this ecosystem and there are a total of 1 quadrillion SHIBs. Half the supply is locked in Uniswap for liquidity and the rest are held by the Ethereum co-founder.
- LEASH: This is another token within the ecosystem and its supply is limited to just 107,646 units.
- BONE: There are 250 million BONE tokens and it acts as the governance token of the ecosystem. The ShibArmy uses these tokens to vote on proposals.
The other elements of the Shiba Inu system are as follows:
- ShibaSwap: This is Shiba Inu’sdecentralized exchange for trading cryptocurrencies.
- Shiboshi: Shiboshi is Shiba Inu’s NFT and is configured on the Ethereum blockchain.
- Shiba Inu Incubator: The incubator is created to support art and various content creators. It helps discover methods to reward artists’ creativity that goes beyond the conventional artforms.
Why You Should Buy Shiba Inu?
There are many reasons why Shiba Inu makes a great buy.
A Valuable Crypto Brand
There are over ten thousand cryptocurrencies in the market but very few offer a valuable and unique technological edge over Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins. Shiba Inu, similar to Dogecoin, has benefited from meme-focused branding. It has trendedwidely on social media and has appreciated in brand value in recent months.
Shibaswap Decentralized Exchange
The meme crypto’s developers have created the Shibaswap decentralized exchange in order to build its brand value and community. This exchange allows users to:
- Place stakes to get yields similar to interests generated by savings accounts
- Keep track of their returns and trade over 10,000 NFTs
There are also reasons why you may not want to include Shiba Inu inyour cryptocurrency portfolio.It is a highly volatile digital currency and has an average holding period of 13 days. Besides, like any other meme-coin, it lacks a real-world utility value. There are only around 100 vendors around the world that accept Shiba Inu as payment. Most of them are crypto-themed businesses.
While Shiba Inu has banked mightily on Elon Musk’s social media support, he doesn’t seem to have a single one of these meme coins. So, it is recommended to consider this crypto as an investment after taking all the factors into account.
