What is Shiba Inu?
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is a cryptocurrency meme token that emerged from the efforts of an anonymous founder known as Ryoshi. Drawing inspiration from the Doge meme, which features a Shiba Inu dog, Shiba Inu positions itself as the “Dogecoin killer.”
Outlined in its “woofpaper,” SHIB presents itself as a community-based cryptocurrency endeavor. In essence, the decentralized Shiba Inu community, referred to as the “ShibArmy,” oversees the cryptocurrency and its evolution.
While this concept may seem groundbreaking, it’s not entirely novel in the cryptocurrency realm. Several other cryptocurrencies operate under similar decentralized community models, rendering Shiba Inu’s approach not as revolutionary as it claims to be.
Despite its origins as a Dogecoin alternative, Shiba Inu distinguishes itself through a critical feature: it operates on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, enabling the execution of smart contracts. This capability enables Shiba Inu to collaborate with decentralized applications (dapps). In contrast, Dogecoin lacks this functionality, thus imposing limitations on its utility.
A brief history of Shiba Inu.
Shiba Inu, introduced in August 2020, debuted with an initial total supply of 1 quadrillion tokens. One significant event in Shiba Inu’s history occurred in May 2021, when its founder sent half of the token supply to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This move was widely perceived as a publicity stunt aimed at capitalizing on the success of a more prominent cryptocurrency. Ryoshi, the founder, cryptically explained that “there is no greatness without a vulnerable point.”
However, Buterin ultimately donated 10% of the tokens and burned (destroyed) the remaining 90%. Consequently, Shiba Inu’s circulating supply currently stands at approximately 549 trillion tokens.
Shiba Inu further expanded its ecosystem by launching its decentralized exchange, ShibaSwap, in July 2021. In November of the same year, it partnered with David Folk, former vice president of technology at Activision, to develop a cryptocurrency gaming project.
In terms of value, Shiba Inu began 2021 with a price of $0.000000000119. It peaked at $0.00008845 during the year, reflecting a remarkable increase of over 74,000,000%. However, it subsequently experienced a significant downturn, with its value dropping by more than 75%.
How does Shibs Inu work?
Shiba Inu emerges as a direct competitor to Dogecoin (DOGE), despite the latter launching eight years earlier in 2013. Despite the significant time gap between their respective launches, DOGE presently holds the position of the 12th largest cryptocurrency according to CoinMarketCap, with SHIB closely trailing behind at number 14.
Initially conceived by a team of decentralized finance (DeFi) enthusiasts, Shiba Inu operates without centralized leadership, team structure, or funding. Today, it stands as a fully community-driven and decentralized ecosystem.
SHIB boasts a total supply of 1 quadrillion SHIB coins. In a strategic move to ensure liquidity, founder Ryoshi locked 50% of this supply on the Uniswap decentralized exchange. Notably, Ryoshi garnered attention by sending a significant portion of SHIB tokens to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in May 2021. Despite initial speculation, Buterin proceeded to sell 90% of the tokens received, effectively removing 40% of all SHIB crypto from circulation. The remaining 10% was subsequently donated to COVID relief efforts in India.
Although SHIB currently operates on a Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, it is in the process of transitioning to Proof of Stake (PoS). The impending introduction of ETH 2.0 will facilitate this transition, leveraging the PoS consensus method to deliver faster transaction speeds and reduced costs, thereby unlocking greater scaling opportunities.
Shiba Inu vs. Dogecoin
Shiba Inu is often dubbed the “Dogecoin Killer” by its team, who believe its value will eventually surpass that of Dogecoin. One commonality between the two cryptocurrencies is their origin from the Shiba Inu dog breed, which has gained popularity as a meme. Additionally, both Shiba Inu and Dogecoin boast sizable communities of devoted supporters who play a crucial role in determining their success.
Moreover, both cryptocurrencies heavily rely on influencer publicity, often leveraging popular social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. These platforms serve as vital channels for announcing their goals and developments, thereby engaging their respective communities and generating momentum for their projects.
