Shiba Inu, a cryptocurrency born from internet memes, is dead. Or maybe not. Some analysts go as far as to say Shiba Inu is dead in 2024. As in not worth investing and even discussing. Is there a chance they are wrong? Let's find out.
According to a bunch of analysts, Shiba Inu is losing ground due to a tough competition and sluggish development. Other still think Shiba Inu has enormous potential fueled by its enthusiastic community.
Who is right and who is wrong here? And should you invest in Shiba Inu in 2024 or is the legendary meme coin dead?
Let's start with a brief history of Shiba Inu. And then we'll take a look at what's going on with it now.
The Detailed History of Shiba Inu: From Joke to Reality
It all began in August 2020 when an anonymous individual or group known as Ryoshi launched the Shiba Inu token (SHIB).
The guys were Inspired by the Shiba Inu dog breed. Their intention was to replicate and surpass the success of Dogecoin, another phenomenal cryptocurrency that started as a joke.
Shiba Inu's journey kicked off on the Ethereum blockchain. That seemed pretty logical. Ethereum was the most advanced blockchain at that time.
Nobody expected that, but Shiba Inu quickly gained traction. It appeared in the right place and the right time to be on the verge of the growing interest in meme coins.
It got listed on Binance, then on Coinbase and KuCoin.
Then the Shib Army appeared. That's the name the passionate community around the meme coin chose for itself.
Then the large caliber PR gun arrived. That was the Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In May 2021 he suddenly donated a significant portion of his SHIB holdings to charity. This move fueled interest to Shiba Inu.
The coin grew in popularity. Even despite the pretty evil criticism from fans of more established cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin maximalists, for example, said that Shiba Inu is basically a scam. They pointed that the token lacks intrinsic value and utility.
The community kept ignoring those attacks. In July 2021 the ShibaSwap was launched. It is a decentralized exchange that provides users with additional functionalities such as staking and swapping various tokens within the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Additional tokens were launched at that point, namely LEASH and BONE.
Then things started to go a bit awry.
Shiba Inu was unable to separate itself from the global crypto market. it reached its historical peak together with Bitcoin in autumn 2021. And then went into bearish sentiments together with the market.
The dreadful volatility of Shiba Inu became its curse. In 2022 and 2023 Shiba Inu lost a significant portion of its popularity. That's a fair price to pay for bearish cycle. right?
And that brings us to where we stand now - to the question, whether Shiba Inu is dead in 2024 or there is something more to it?
Shiba Inu in 2024: What's Going On?
Today we see SHIB is a top 15 cryptocurrency by market cap.
Since the start of 2024 to the current date, the value of SHIB has increased by more than 300%.
That's a phenomenal growth, far bigger than most of the well established cryptocurrencies out there.
However, we all know Shiba Inu can do better. Today SHIB is still around 60% lower than its all-time high in 2021.
Reasons Why Shiba Inu May Go Up
The crypto market is unpredictable. But some factors can - and must! - be taken into account.
Let's take a look at things that point to SHIB's inevitable growth.
Shiba Inu boasts a dedicated and passionate community of supporters, known as the “Shib Army.” These guys actively promote and advocate for the project. They fueled the project in the past. Nothing says they won't to it in the future.
Shiba Inu’s tokenomics is its strength. Its deflationary token model and burn mechanism are uncanny. Regular token burns gradually reduce the overall supply. And increasing scarcity, as we all know, is driving value appreciation.
Shiba Inu has some surprises on its roadmap. That includes L2 blockchain and upgrades for Shiba Eternity and ShibaSwap.
Reasons Why Shiba Inu May Go Down
Now let's talk about things that might mean ultimate demise for Shiba Inu.
Critics say that Shiba Inu’s vast token supply is simply killing it. There are literally trillions of tokens in circulation. That challenges market stability, even with the aforementioned token burns.
There are so many newly born meme coins and DeFi projects, you can easily lose count of them. Shiba Inu faces stiff competition. Investor's attention is a finite resource.
Like many other cryptocurrencies, Shiba Inu faces the regulatory uncertainty. Meme coins are so much weaker than the well established tokens like BTC. And legal hurdles pose so much more danger to them.
Same goes to price volatility. It is almost impossible to asset the real value SHIB possesses because it's basically a meme coin, in case you forgot. Investor sentiments, market trends, FOMO, global politics - there are so many factors that can diminish the community support.
Is Shiba Inu Dead in 2024 - Takeaways
Short answer is "No."
There are lots of troubles, legal hurdles and all kinds of uncertanties. Yet, there is a mighty community and some promising developments ahead. That is enough to be optimistic. Shiba Inu was - and still is - a leading meme coin and one of the driving forces of the DeFi as we know it.