What Is Shiba Inu Coin, Aka “The Dogecoin Killer”?
Shiba Inu or Shiba Token is a decentralized cryptocurrency that came out in August 2020. An anonymous person(s), only known by the name “Ryoshi,” created this meme crypto. As might be obvious, it’s the second crypto, after Dogecoin, to take inspiration from the popular Doge meme. In fact, it was dubbed the “Dogecoin Killer” at the time of its launch.
Over a year after its debut, Shiba Inu coin’s value skyrocketed after its team announced a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange in October 2021. In the aftermath of the news, the cryptocurrency surged by a whopping 55%.
As reported by Yahoo! News, crypto expert Ishan Arora said, “It started as a meme coin with no use case, but that is being changed as the team seems to be working on certain things like a decentralized exchange.”
Interestingly, one of Shiba Token’s peaks coincided with an Elon Musk tweet that showed a picture of his pet Shiba Inu. Given Musk’s influence on crypto trends these days, people speculate that his tweet also contributed to Shiba Token’s gain.
Is ‘Shiba Inu’ the same as Dogecoin?
Since Shiba Inu and Dogecoin are related to the Doge meme, people often get confused between them. These two cryptocurrencies have similar logos, making it challenging for the commoner to pick them apart.
However, Shiba Token and Dogecoin are different cryptos and openly publicized rivals. Remember when we said that Shiba Token debuted as the “Dogecoin killer”? Yes, that makes it clear.
Is ‘Shiba Inu’ a strong rival to Dogecoin?
Initially, the Shiba Inu coin gained negligible attention in the crypto world. However, around the turn of its first anniversary, it experienced a rally – a period of significant gains following a little change in value – which suggested it might finally live up to its Dogecoin Killer moniker.
At one point in October 2021, its value shot up to $0.000067 — a record high for the recently launched crypto. To add perspective, this surge means that a person, who invested $2 in Shiba Inu at the start of the year, would have an investment worth around $2 million today.
Moreover, thanks to its meteoric rise, Shiba Inu gained a lead over Dogecoin in market cap. CoinGecko became the world’s 7th largest crypto by October, leaving Dogecoin at number 8.
If you like this simple explainer, check out our Short Bytes section. We take complex tech topics and break them into short, easy-to-understand articles.
