Meme tokens have become a major part of the crypto industry, as they have evolved to become not just joke cryptocurrencies but also popular investment assets.
One of the most popular of these is Shiba Inu, which currently is the second largest meme token by market cap. In this guide, we take a dive into what this top meme token is, and why it is so popular.
What is Shiba Inu?
Shiba Inu is a meme token inspired by a Japanese dog breed called Shiba Inu. It was launched in 2020 as an alternative to Dogecoin, the first meme coin launched in 2013. Based on the Ethereum blockchain, Shiba Inu is an ERC-20 token.
The project has a decentralized exchange (DEX) called ShibaSwap. Although it hasn’t all been realized yet, Shiba Inu’s roadmap also includes an NFT art incubator called Shiba Artist Incubator, 10,000 “Shiboshi” NFTs, and an NFT game Shiboshi Game.
The project initially launched with a circulating supply of 1 quadrillion tokens, but Ryoshi the founder locked 50% of the tokens to create liquidity. Also, Shiba Inu has a burn mechanism that systematically reduces its supply, thus creating scarcity and hopefully leading to price increase.
Apart from SHIB which is the primary token of the Shiba Inu project, there are other tokens, Doge Killer (LEASH) and Bone ShibaSwap (BONE) which have their own functions. LEASH was initially used as a rebase token to track Dogecoin’s price.
BONE on the other hand is a governance token which will play a critical role with Shbarium, and is also to be used for voting on developments in the upcoming Doggy DAO.
Difference Between Shiba Inu and DOgecoin
Both Dogecoin and SHiba Inu are meme cryptocurrencies. Shiba Inu has been nicknamed the Dogecoin Killer, but many people still can’t tell the difference between the two biggest meme cryptocurrencies, so what’s the difference really?
First, Dogecoin is a coin, that is it has its own blockchain and runs on its own. It also uses a version of the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm that Bitcoin uses. This means that Dogecoin is mined using computers similar to the way Bitcoin functions.
On the other hand, Shiba Inu runs on Ethereum blockchain, so it is an ERC-20 token just like any other Ethereum based token. Its 1 quadrillion supply of coins is pre-mined, unlike Dogecoin which is continuously mined.
Dogecoin has an interesting supply cap of 142.15 billion coins, which is a small fraction of Shiba Inu’s 1 quadrillion tokens.
Why SHIB is so Popular
Shiba Inu is the second largest meme cryptocurrency, launched in 2020 seven years after Dogecoin. However, it has grown to become very popular among investors and crypto enthusiasts.
Like Dogecoin, SHIB has received some attention from Elon Musk, which has definitely drawn attention to the token. However, that isn’t all that has made it so popular.
One of the main reasons for its popularity is its Shiboshi NFTs and games. Though it was initially created as a joke cryptocurrency like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu has decided to add some use cases to its ecosystem, one of which is NFTs.
Considering the rapidly growing popularity of NFTs even now, it’s easy to see why Shiba Inu has become popular too. This popularity has also made the token a favorite among investors. SHIB was one of the best performing crypto assets during the 2021 bull market and has made many investors in the process.
Going forward, the project also has some interesting plans to unfold, including Shibarium which the community has been looking forward to.
Is SHIB a Good Buy?
SHIB has done well as an investment since its launch despite its large circulating supply. The goods days aren’t exactly over though, as there’s more hope of greater returns for those who invest in the token.
With the SHIB burn mechanism in place, it is expected that the price of the token will continue to rise as supply dwindles, so it is potentially a good buy.
