Jan 19, 2022
What is the Shiba Inu digital currency? And what is her project?
Shiba Inu is an alternative digital currency based on Ethereum and an alternative cryptocurrency, meaning that it is another digital currency other than Bitcoin, and “Shiba Inu” is distinguished by its adoption of a Japanese dog breed whose name and logo, so Shiba Inu is widely considered an alternative to Dogecoin ‘, in fact proponents of “Shiba Inu” describe it as a “Dogecoin killer.”
What is the digital currency “Shiba Inu”?
“Shiba Inu” and “Dogecoin” are meme (joking) coins which are cryptocurrencies with some common traits such as the dog “Shiba Inu” as their logo. Both were launched as a parody or a joke rather than a digital product that actually has some benefits.
“Dogecoin” was launched in December 2013, while “Shiba Inu” was created in August 2020 by an unknown person or group called “Ryoshi”. The price of “Shiba Inu” increased more than tenfold in October 2021, giving it a market capitalization of $30 billion (as of November 8, 2021) and ranking eleventh among all cryptocurrencies according to this metric.
With a Tweet from the Tesla founder on October 4, 2021, in which Elon Musk showed off a photo of his new Shiba Inu puppy, he provided the initial impetus to the soaring price of meme coins. Since Musk is one of the most prominent supporters of the self-proclaimed “Dogecoin”, his “crypto” tweets often lead to increased volatility in the crypto space.
Shiba Inu’s price hike in October 2021 nearly catches up with Dogecoin’s $36.9 billion market capitalization, after which the coin has fallen behind and “Dogecoin” is ranked ninth before Shiba. It remains to be seen if Shiba Inu will actually become the “Dogecoin killer” that her growing community of supporters, known as “ShibArmy”, has been anticipating. But at least in the third and final quarter of 2021, the amazing price gains of this digital currency made it attract many newbies and investors to this exciting arena of the crypto arena.
What is the “Shiba Inu” project?
The guidelines for the “Shiba Inu” ecosystem are outlined in “Woof Paper” (presumably the “White paper” project, available at “ShibaToken.com”.
According to the project’s white paper, “Shiba Inu” was developed as an answer to a simple question:
What would happen if a cryptocurrency project was 100% run by its community?
Its founder, Ryoshi, attributes the origins of this coin to an “experiment with decentralized spontaneous community building.” According to Ryoshi, the power of collective decentralization can build something more powerful than what a centralized team can create. ShibArmy, which has more than 500,000 members, has its founding principles:
The project started from scratch.
It is not built from an existing community or pre-assembled team.
Declared love for “Shiba Inu” dogs.
Since “Shiba Inu” is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token, it was created and hosted by Ethereum, rather than its own blockchain. Ryoshi stated in the paper that he chose to build the Shiba Inu ecosystem on Ethereum because it was already secure and well established in the arena, and allowed the project to remain decentralized.
Shiba Inu Ecosystem
The Shiba Inu ecosystem consists of the following three icons:
Shiba Inu (SHIB):
This is the base currency of the project.
Starting with supplying 1 quadrillion (equivalent to 1,000 trillion), Ryoshi locked 50% in Uniswap (for liquidity purposes) and then sent the other 50% to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for safekeeping. Buterin donated more than 50 trillion Shiba Inu (SHIB) units, worth more than $1 billion, to the COVID-19 Relief Fund in India, when the nation there was suffering from the delta-type coronavirus.
Shortly thereafter, Buterin burned and permanently removed from circulation — 40% of the total supply of “Shiba Inu” and sent it to the so-called dead wallet.
Leash (LEASH):
The second cryptocurrency in the Shiba Inu ecosystem, Leash is the other end of the ecosystem spectrum, with a total supply of just 107,646 coins compared to the trillions of Shiba Inu.
Bone (BONE):
The bone matches the other two currencies, “Shiba Inu” and “Leash”.
The coin has a total supply of 250,000,000 coins.
The coin is designed to be a symbol of governance and will allow “ShibArmy” to vote on upcoming proposals.
The ‘Shiba Inu’ ecosystem also includes:
ShipaSwap:
The goal of the decentralized finance platform “ShibaSwap” is to provide a safe place to trade cryptocurrencies while maintaining decentralization.
It is better to buy and sell SHIB and LEASH through ShibaSwap.
Shiba Inu Incubator:
The incubator aims to shift the focus beyond common art forms such as painting, photography and digital display, and to explore ways to honor creativity and ingenuity.
Shiboshis:
Shiboshis are 10,000 non-fungible (NFT) tokens created by “Shiba Inu” built on the Ethereum blockchain, with different attributes that make each Shiboshi unique and collectible.
“Shiba Inu Woof Paper” uses dog terms to describe how returns can be generated from “Shiba Inu” coins. On “ShibaSwap” these digital currencies can be used to “dig”, provide liquidity and exchange one token for another. The tokens used in these strategies generate Woof returns in the form of Bone coins that are distributed to cryptocurrency pools known as “Puppy Pools,” according to the white paper.
For crypto enthusiasts, part of the meme’s appeal is their rejection of traditional protocols, and this unorthodox approach may extend to the use of dog terms to describe strategies. But it sure looks like they are far from fixed investment terms like ROI and liquidity.
How to buy a Shiba Inu
The Quick Start Guide at “ShibaToken.com” explains the following steps for a potential buyer of SHIB or LEASH tokens:
Create a MetaMask wallet.
Send Ethereum (ETG) to your wallet, by buying directly or transferring from exchanges like Coinbase, using the ERC-20 network when transferring Ethereum.
Connect your MetaMask wallet to ShibaSwap.
Exchange Ethereum for SHIB, LEASH or BONE tokens.
Considerations to take into account when investing in Shiba Inu:
Investing in cryptocurrencies is risky enough due to their huge volatility and lack of regulation.
Investing in the meme coin space and altcoins in general presents an additional challenge due to the lack of differentiation and the fact that most of its value is based on frenzied trading by their fanatical followers.
Here are some considerations before investing in Shiba Inu:
Low price: Even after its recent gains, Shiba Inu (SHIB) costs a fraction of a cent, so one can buy millions of SHIB coins with just a few hundred dollars.
With its last price of $0.00006485, $100 will fetch you over 1.5 million SHIB coins.
Limited Use Case and Benefit: While its followers may point out that Shiba Inu-based NFT is now available and its Ethereum base may enable smart contracting capabilities in the future, Shiba Inu currently has very limited usefulness and does not have a compelling use case yet.
Skyrocketing price: Shiba Inu’s $30 billion market capitalization makes it bigger than many of the decades-old S&P 500 companies that have grown their sales and profits for most of the time.
In fact, the combined $66 billion value of Shiba Inu and Dogecoin exceeded the market value of 388 companies on the S&P 500.
On August 1, 2020, SHIB was trading at $0.00000000051, so at the moment at $0.00006485 the coin is gaining 12715586%! This means that $1 invested in SHIB on August 1, 2020, would have generated $127,156 on October 31, 2021.
These striking numbers also mean that Shiba Inu has achieved its founder Ryoshi’s goal of creating something from nothing. However, these gains are likely driven by a frenzy of speculation on social media as crypto enthusiasts look for the next big thing.
If the bubble bursts, retail investors who hit the highs may be left with an empty bag.
Why is Shiba Inu called the “Dogecoin Killer”?
According to founder Shiba Inu, his cryptocurrency is a “Dogecoin killer” because the value of SHIB is set up and ready to surpass that of Dogecoin.
Ryoshi adds that even if SHIB never reaches $0.01, SHIB’s publicity and utility means it will be relatively more than Dogecoin.
Why has Shiba Inu been in the news for the past weeks?
For a number of reasons:
First, SHIB’s stock rose more than tenfold in October 2021, making it in the top ten among all cryptocurrencies, as a result of which it attracted huge interest from traders and the coin garnered a lot of media attention.
Second, Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted a photo of his new puppy “Shiba Inu Floki” in the first week of October, generating huge enthusiasm among retail meme investors.
In addition, crypto investors were excited about the launch of Shiba Inu NFTs, as well as unconfirmed rumors that SHIB will be listed on the popular stock and crypto trading app “Robinhood.”
Is Shiba Inu a risky investment?
Yes, investing in Shiba Inu is speculative and risky. Cryptocurrencies can be very volatile, and SHIB’s recent gains could make them vulnerable to a significant drop.
Shiba Inu also has very limited utility, and its value is based primarily on the frenzy of speculation fueled by social media.
