The Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) price has been on a tear recently, garnering global headlines. Over the past week Shiba Inu, driven by crypto retail investor enthusiasm, has soared almost 130%.
And it's gained almost 7,000,000% since launching in August 2020.
But not today.
The digital token is cratering today, down 28% over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, the dog meme token is trading for US$0.00006207.
This comes even as the world's top cryptos are posting healthy gains.
The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is up 5% in 24 hours, to US$61.694.
And Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the world's number 2 crypto by market valuation, is up 9% in that same time. One Ether is currently exchanging virtual hands for US$4,385, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Image source: Getty Images
What the heck is Shiba Inu?
For an answer to that question, the Motley Fool turned to Darren Abrams, co-founder and managing director of Aus Merchant Investments.
Abrams told us:
The Shiba Inu coin was launched in August 2020 with a "woof paper", a tongue-in-cheek variation of the traditional white paper. Shiba Inu's pseudonymous founder Ryoshi created the coin to foster an entirely community-run and decentralised ecosystem. It is as an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token.
But hang on a second. Isn't there already a dog-themed crypto? In fact, doesn't Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) even sport a Shiba Inu as its virtual mascot?
Indeed.
"Shiba Inu was launched to rival Dogecoin and is the epitome of a meme coin, a coin with no inherent utility or value," Abrams said.
Yep. The Shiba Inu website even calls its token the "Dogecoin killer".
Though today, it looks like the shoe is on the other, erm, paw.
Dogecoin looks to be stealing its newer rival's thunder, and its investors, with the price up 24% over the past 24 hours. One Dogecoin is currently worth 29.8 US cents.
What's the outlook for tokens like dog coins?
Investors can often be taken in by some of the massive gains posted by cryptocurrencies. But it's important not to lose sight of the potentially massive losses they can inflict.
According to Abrams:
The zeitgeist of retail investors taking charge of their finances through contrarian strategies, in which they act as a unified force against the incumbents, is the driving force of Shiba Inu's parabolic price action. This same grassroots movement is what propelled GameStop's exponential gains.
Dogecoin was the first target of these investors… It's only a matter of time until there is another 'dog coin' to replace Shiba Inu. Personally, I wouldn't recommend investing in any meme coins with no cogent value proposition.
The Dogecoin price, if you're wondering, is down 60% from its 8 May record high of 73.8 US cents.
Shiba Inu hit its own all-time high yesterday. It's down 28% since then.
Invest with care!
