About Shiba Inu (SHIB)

An Ethereum-run memecoin inspired by Dogecoin, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is emblematic of crypto – volatile, hard to explain, and not for everyone.

And yet, with a market capitalization of $19 billion (as of mid-December 2021), SHIB is the 13th-largest coin, according to CoinGecko.

Inherent to what makes SHIB valuable is the cache it has within its community, convinced that "memes have value," as Bloomberg has pointed out. That’s especially true when an inside joke goes viral as a form of tokenized trendiness.

Categorising SHIB as a memecoin glosses over the traction it has gained as a payment coin. Unquestionably, though, hype has helped SHIB at every twist and turn during its stunning rise.

Because SHIB is issued as an Ethereum token, as Blockzeit explained, there is the potential for SHIB to be incorporated into ETH-based DeFi applications and NFT marketplaces.

SHIB was launched in 2020 by an anonymous developer known only as Ryoshi, according to Investopedia.

In its “Woof Paper,” Ryoshi called SHIB "an experiment in decentralized, spontaneous community building."

Spontaneity is a hallmark of many a meme asset, but what really makes them go is a steady diet of publicity.

SHIB sprang to life in May of 2021 by way of a headline-grabbing gift – half of SHIB's entire supply, in the trillions – left on the doorstep of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who later donated the unexpected trove (worth $1 billion) to Covid-relief efforts in India. A decentralized community-building experiment was born.

Supportive tweets from Tesla CEO Elon Musk didn't hurt, as Fortune said.

Important exchange listings followed. For example, Kraken, seeing surging demand among traders, decided to throw support to SHIB when some other venues, worried about volatility, kept their distance. That Kraken listing was in November 2021, coinciding with the total number of SHIB holders reportedly surpassing one million.

In early December, technology retailer Newegg announced it would begin accepting Shiba Inu as payment, Fortune said.

The current price of SHIB

As of mid-December 2021, SHIB was $0.00003531. That represents a roughly 60% decline relative to late October 2021 when SHIB reached above $0.00007 per token, an all-time high.

How the price of SHIB is determined

SHIB began with an intentionally humongous supply set at 1 quadrillion, with half immediately "burned" (by way of that outsized gift to Buterin) and half locked in Uniswap. The project’s market capitalization, as of mid-December 2021, was about $18 billion, ranking it in the top 15 most valuable digital assets, according to CoinGecko.

Hype can only go so far, some crypto industry experts warn while others point to a scenario involving more massive upside still to come, provided the loyal ShibArmy continues to marshal its forces.

"A community-run token is nothing without the united individuals who give it purpose," Ryoshi has said.

What the bulls are saying about Shiba Inu (SHIB)

• Shiba Inu could be a bellwether of a larger, more durable trend, FTX’s Jonathan Cheesman told Bloomberg. “Memes have value and have been an investible thesis.
• By September of 2022, SHIB will reach about $0.000014, nearly a 100% increase from December 2021, according to a Wallet Investor forecast.
• SHIB is about to undergo "a foundational transformation with a concerted push toward blockchain-based gaming," WCCF Tech said. Thus, SHIB adds “material utility to the entire ecosystem."

What the bears are saying about Shiba Inu (SHIB)

• If the bears regain control, FXStreet said in late 2021, a sustained break below the 100-DMA support will be on the table.
• "It's time for a reality check: SHIB is probably going to face-plant in 2022," Motley Fool said.
• “The dog-coin hype has slowed down significantly over the last few months and “there are many other points of focus in the industry lately with far more substance," said David Hsiao, the CEO of Block Journal. “The price effect from hype and rumor can only last so long.”