Cryptocurrencies are often divisive, simply Shiba Inu is in a grade of its own. Critics have called it a pump-and-dump scheme and said that information technology's practically useless. On the other hand, it has a massive number of followers who love to hype it on social media, and it was one of the most successful investments of 2021.
Is there however room for Shiba Inu to grow? Anything'due south possible with cryptocurrency, but you should exist very cautious if you're thinking of buying this 1.
Image source: Getty Images.
What is Shiba Inu coin?
Shiba Inu is a cryptocurrency meme token launched by an anonymous founder called Ryoshi. Like
Dogecoin
(CRYPTO:DOGE), it'southward based on the Doge meme, which features a Shiba Inu canis familiaris. It fifty-fifty calls itself the "Dogecoin killer."
The white paper (referred to as a "woofpaper") for Shiba Inu describes information technology as a community-based cryptocurrency project. This essentially means that the decentralized Shiba Inu community, known as the "ShibArmy," is in charge of the cryptocurrency and its development.
This isn't exactly unique in the globe of crypto. In that location are other cryptocurrencies run by decentralized communities, then even though Shiba Inu'south white paper frames it as a revolutionary idea, it's no different than what other projects have already been doing.
While Shiba Inu was first known every bit an alternative to Dogecoin, it has a key difference. Shiba Inu is built on the
Ethereum
(CRYPTO:ETH) blockchain, and so it tin can run smart contracts. Through smart contracts, Shiba Inu can work with decentralized applications. Dogecoin doesn't take this capability, making it much more limited in terms of what it can do.
A brief history of Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu was created in August 2020 with an initial total supply of one quadrillion tokens. The first big moment in Shiba Inu's history came in May 2021 when its founder sent half the supply to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This was widely considered a publicity stunt to piggyback on the success of a more than popular cryptocurrency. Ryoshi's cryptic caption was that "there is no greatness without a vulnerable point."
Buterin ended up donating 10% of the tokens and burning (destroying) the other 90%. Because of that, Shiba Inu currently has a circulating supply of about 549 trillion tokens.
Shiba Inu launched its own decentralized exchange, ShibaSwap, in July 2021. In November, information technology partnered with David Folk (previously vice president of engineering science at Activision) to develop a cryptocurrency gaming project.
In terms of value, Shiba Inu started 2021 with a toll of $0.000000000119. It hitting a peak that twelvemonth of $0.00008845. Comparison such pocket-size numbers is catchy, but an easier way to look at information technology is that the price had risen more than 74,000,000% in October 2021. It then suffered a major downturn, with the value dropping by more than than 75%.
How Shiba Inu is used
Shiba Inu originally was designed every bit a digital currency. It has since launched a decentralized crypto exchange in an try to build the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Here'south a closer await at electric current uses for Shiba Inu.
Digital currency
Shiba Inu can be used for peer-to-peer digital payments or as a payment method with businesses that accept it. However, it doesn't offering any competitive advantages over other cryptocurrencies in this regard, and it's not widely accepted equally a payment method.
At the kickoff of 2022, more than 600 businesses accustomed Shiba Inu. For comparing's sake, more than vii,500 businesses accepted marketplace leader
Bitcoin
(CRYPTO:BTC) at that same fourth dimension.
Decentralized cryptocurrency substitution
In July 2021, the Shiba Inu squad launched a decentralized crypto commutation (DEX), ShibaSwap. DEXs are crypto exchanges that don't have a central governing body. They're part of something known as decentralized finance (DeFi) -- traditional financial services that don't require banks or other fiscal institutions.
ShibaSwap and other DEXs allow traders to swap 1 cryptocurrency for another directly from their blockchain wallets without registering for an account or providing whatever personal data. Since ShibaSwap is built on the Ethereum blockchain, it offers trading betwixt ERC-xx tokens, meaning tokens built on that specific blockchain.
Users can likewise pale (deposit) their crypto to the exchange's liquidity pools so the commutation tin can apply it. In return, users receive crypto rewards on their staked tokens.
There are ii tokens designed specifically to piece of work with ShibaSwap:
-
Bone ShibaSwap
(CRYPTO:Bone) is ShibaSwap'south governance token. Holders tin propose and vote on changes to ShibaSwap. BONE is too used for crypto staking since holders tin can stake it to earn more. -
Doge Killer
(CRYPTO:LEASH) is a token that was originally made to track Dogecoin's cost at a 1:1,000 ratio. It no longer does that and is now used as a store of value for ShibaSwap investors.
NFTs
ShibaSwap also offers a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Its NFTs are called Shiboshis, which are pixelated cartoons of Shiba Inu dogs, all with their own unique characteristics. In addition, the Shiba Inu team is developing a Shiboshi game that volition apply these characters.
How to buy Shiba Inu
If you want to invest in Shiba Inu, y'all tin can buy information technology on several of the elevation crypto exchanges. Here are a few popular places to purchase Shiba Inu:
-
Coinbase Global
(NASDAQ:COIN) is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. It started listing Shiba Inu in September 2021. -
Gemini
is a user-friendly crypto exchange that first listed Shiba Inu in Nov 2021. -
Binance
is one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide, and it has both an international and a U.S. platform. Its international platform added Shiba Inu in May 2021, and its U.S. platform added Shiba Inu in November 2021.
Should yous invest in Shiba Inu in 2022?
Shiba Inu is an extremely high-risk investment that has most likely already peaked. Early buyers may have fabricated serious coin, only that success was primarily based on the hype and not any technical advantages. You lot're better off with more useful cryptocurrencies or cryptocurrency stocks that have more long-term value.
The trouble is that for everything Shiba Inu does, there are competitors that practice it meliorate. Shiba Inu can exist used as a currency, but since information technology'southward congenital on Ethereum, it often has slow processing times and high fees. Other cryptocurrencies, such as
Solana
(CRYPTO:SOL) offer much faster, cheaper transactions.
ShibaSwap is another use example for Shiba Inu, but it's in a crowded market place. There are already quite a few DEXs out there, and the market leaders, including
Uniswap
(CRYPTO:UNI) and
PancakeSwap
(CRYPTO:CAKE), are much larger than ShibaSwap.
Meme coins and meme stocks sometimes grab fire, just their success rarely lasts long. The most likely scenario? Shiba Inu's best days are behind it.
Lyle Daly has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, PancakeSwap, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, Inc., Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.