What is it, what is it worth and should you invest?

As the saying goes, every dog ​​has his day. This is especially true for Shiba Inu, a cryptocurrency named after and based on the Japanese dog breed. Since its introduction to the crypto world, the coin has grown at an amazing rate, capturing the attention of investors and enthusiasts alike.

In late October 2021, the price of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency surged by over 173% in just a week and plummeted almost as quickly. While steep price growth makes it easy to catch up right now, it’s important to realize that cryptocurrency, especially meme crypto, is a highly volatile investment.

Learn about Shiba Inu’s volatility, its future potential and everything you need to know about its current price.

What is Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu is an altcoin created in August 2020 by a pseudonymous company called Ryoshi. Like many other cryptocurrencies, Shiba Inu’s name was inspired by a breed of dog.

According to his white paper, known as the “Woof Paper” in the Shib community, founder Shiba Inu started on Ethereum because the blockchain is well established and secure.

Shiba inu’s founder claims that half of the coin’s supply is locked in a liquidity pool at Uniswap, while the rest has been sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The tokens were sent in the hope that Buterin would keep them.

But he burned most of them and put them out of circulation. He donated a significant number of tokens to many charities including the India COVID-19 Relief Fund.

How much is the Shiba Inu coin worth?

Shiba Inu Crypto is worth $0.00001256 as of August 12, according to CoinMarketCap. That represents a fall of more than 84% from its peak of 0.00008 on Oct. 26, 2021.

Currently, the coin has a market cap of $6,894,551,695 and ranks 15th in CoinMarketCap’s list of top cryptocurrencies.

Is it safe?

The security of a cryptocurrency depends on its structure and utility. Since Shib is an altcoin, it is community based. This means that the success of the coin depends largely on the growth of the community. The provider plays a subordinate role in this.

Shib’s whitepaper called it an “experiment” for building decentralized communities.

Even under the best of circumstances, you should only invest in crypto what you can afford to lose, as all cryptocurrencies are risky investments. However, altcoins are particularly risky as they have structural, usage and supply differences from Bitcoin and their investment potential is more speculative.

When Bitcoin was introduced, the intention behind it was to offer a peer-to-peer decentralized financial system. The founder carefully created the blockchain keeping in mind the usefulness and structure of the ecosystem. In addition, there is a limited supply of Bitcoin. Thus, the cryptocurrency has a built-in scarcity. Because of these properties, Bitcoin has the potential to become a widely used digital currency in the future.

But the same cannot be said for the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency. Therefore it is not a safe investment.

Where can I buy Shib?

You can buy Shiba Inu on ShibaSwap, the project’s native exchange, and on Binance.US, Coinbase, KuCoin, and many other exchanges. Here are some ways to buy Shib through Binance.US:

• Bank Transfer: Link your bank account to Binance.US and select that account as your payment method when you are ready to make your Shiba Inu purchase.

• Act: You can also exchange your existing cryptocurrencies for Shib on Binance.US.

• Credit card: Binance.US allows you to buy Shib using your debit card or credit card such as Mastercard or Visa.

If you live in a state with unfriendly cryptocurrency laws, you can buy Shib from a marketplace like KuCoin as part of a trading pair. In an example that KuCoin gives on its website, you can buy Shib through the Shib/USDT trading pair and then exchange your USDT for Shib.

You can also use the Atomic Wallet app to buy Shib with a credit or debit card.

Is it a good investment?

Most of the Shiba Inu’s popularity is based on hype. According to Nasdaq, the fear of missing out is an emotional burden for investors. If you see other people making money from Shib, you might be tempted to invest in it too.

Headlines involving Shiba Inu could give the coin a boost, albeit temporarily. And whether it’s justified or not. A Benzinga article, for example, spread a rumor – and it’s technically a rumor – that Elon Musk might have been involved in the development of Shib.

What’s not rumored is that a Baltimore Porche dealership has started accepting Shib as payment for its cars, among other cryptocurrencies. However, a 2022 Cayenne SUV would set you back about 3.8 billion Shib, which is about 2% of all Shib coins currently in circulation.

More likely, a real impact on Shib’s value is its listing on Robinhood, which makes it more widely accessible to investors.

Additionally, the Metaverse Shiba Inu project is nearing completion and will host a public land sale after a 10-day bidder-and-holder event, U.Today reported. The sale allows users to mint over 100,000 tickets which they can then use to generate revenue. ShibaSwap has partnered with a Hollywood studio called The Third Floor to visualize, design and build the Shiba Inu Metaverse, Watcher Guru reported.

However, the risk-reward profile of Ethereum, Bitcoin, and larger altcoins like Cardano has been more profitable than Shiba Inu for most investors. If you want to buy some coins for fun, go ahead. But you shouldn’t invest much in Shib as it could be worth little or nothing in the future.

Consider how much the Shiba Inu’s price fell last fall. While regular market volatility likely played a role in this drop, the drop is being attributed to a mysterious billionaire.

Possible crashes

An anonymous person bought 70 trillion Shib coins for $8,000 in August 2021. When the currency peaked, the coins were worth $6 billion. However, this person started moving over 40 trillion of their wealth across four crypto addresses.

So there is speculation that trillions of Shiba Inu could be pouring back into the market. But that’s not the only concern experts have regarding Shib. Fearing that the anonymous billionaire might soon sell his fortune, other traders might sell their coins even if said billionaire does nothing.

Either way, there would be a huge Shib inflow into the market, which would exacerbate the current bear market.

It’s also important to note that Shiba Inu has no intrinsic worth. It may seem valuable given its market cap, but its value is based purely on entertainment. With this in mind, investing too much money in Shib would not be wise. Shiba Inu crypto can help you make money fast, but it is not a reliable long-term investment.

Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article has been updated with additional reports since its original publication. Information is correct as of August 12, 2022.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Shiba Inu (SHIB): What is it, what is it worth and should you invest?