Shiba Inu: Is It More Than Just a Dog Themed Meme Coin?

Having risen in value over the last year, Shiba Inu, yet another dog-themed cryptocurrency, has gained mainstream attention in the past year. While having a large internet following developing an ecosystem around the asset, we now ask ourselves, is Shiba Inu more than just a meme coin?

How did Shiba Inu start?

Issued by an individual, or group, going by the name of Ryoshi, Shiba Inu (SHIB,) came into existence at a time when the crypto industry seemed to be proliferating with dog-themed crypto-assets – all touting themselves as the next Dogecoin. One could not be faulted for lumping the digital asset with the rest of the hyped-based doge-themed meme coins in the market. 

Philosophy of the Shiba Inu coin

The asset’s creator’s philosophy behind the existence of the asset, however, seems to have struck a chord with crypto investors, as the token has enjoyed a meteoric rise since its inception in August of 2020. The philosophy asks a simple question of investors, what could a token become if it was fully controlled by its community? 

The token aims to be a more useful Doge, by giving full say in how the ecosystem develops to the asset’s holders. The idea behind it, as it seems, is to achieve a fully decentralized ecosystem. Opting to create the coin on the Ethereum blockchain – claims the creator – will help achieve this, as Ethereum features one of the most developed decentralized ecosystems available in space today. 

Shiba Inu started as a simple Ethereum-based ERC20 token, Shiba Inu – In the year since its creation – seems to have become more than just my crypto, and Is now the operating token for a Defi and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) ecosystem. All made possible through little input from the creator, its developments have mostly been community-driven. 

Costing – at time of writing – a mere fraction of a cent ($0.0004040), the coin, which once had a circulating supply of 1 quadrillion coins, has risen – in value – to the point that its market capitalization challenged that of original canine-coin, Dogecoin. The coin’s recent run, back in October, saw the asset log over 700% in gains – this, after experiencing a 7000% rally earlier in the year.

The token’s creator, Ryoshi, disposed of his SHIB holdings – which equated to half of the total 1 Quadrillion Shiba Inu tokens in existence – by giving them to Ethereum creator, Vitalik Buterin. The Ethereum founder promptly sold a billion dollars worth of the crypto asset and gave it to charity; he burned the remaining 40%. The resulting scarcity drove up demand for the token as speculative hype around the asset reached a fever pitch.

Just Another Dog Coin?

Well, not exactly, the Shiba Inu token has developed into a gateway to what is developing into a veritable ecosystem with Defi, and NFT functionality. The SHIB ecosystem houses three tokens within it, each serving a certain function. 

SHIB is the principal token of the – Japanese Shiba Inu – themed ecosystem. There’s about 50% of a quadrillion of these bad boys out there – since Buterin helped out with a massive token burn – and serves as the main incentivized asset on the Shiba Inu Decentralized Exchange (DEX.)

LEASH is the second asset on the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s roster of proprietary assets and also serves an incentivized asset function. With a total supply of 107,646 tokens, the token offers favorable potential rewards for users who utilize it to supply liquidity. 

BONE, on the other hand, exists for ecosystem governance purposes. This asset enables members of the ecosystem – the ShibArmy – to vote on upcoming proposals. There are 250 million digital assets in circulation. 

These tokens do not, merely, exist by themselves. They are attached to a vibrant ecosystem that recently reported a milestone of 1 million active wallets. The Shiba Inu ecosystem currently stands on the following pillars:

Shibaswap is the ecosystem’s DEX platform. This platform holds the ecosystem’s Defi functionality, allowing users to trade digital assets in a decentralized manner. Providing liquidity for the transactions executed on the ecosystem, in SHIB or LEASH, unlocks potentially lucrative rewards for participants.

Shiba Inu Incubator is an art-focused platform. The platform is designed to help the discovery and “incubation” of artists who operate outside of the orthodox artforms. 

Shiboshi is NFT generated through the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Compared to the Ethereum blockchain, each Shiboshi contains – within its code – unique attributes which distinguish it from any other. 

Closing

From the looks of things, Shiba Inu, and its cohort of supporters seem to be building out a legitimate ecosystem. The project – at present – shows a lot of promise, as they have, recently, gone as far as pointing out a Shiba Inu scale to protect user funds. 

The project’s value, however, still falls within the realm of speculation. Investors ought to practice caution when buying into the asset, and only spend what they are comfortable with losing – should the whole thing fail to usurp Dogecoin which it seems close to doing.