Your Guide to Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB)
The Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB) started out as a memecoin, but investors are taking it seriously as SHIB devs plan a play-to-earn game model and stable decentralized exchange.
History Of The Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB)
The Shiba Inu coin was initially launched as a tribute to the popularity of the Japanese dog breed, Shiba Inu, as well as the breed’s use in multiple internet memes as “doge”. This meme was so popular on social media that cryptocurrency developers created Dogecoin, typically considered the first memecoin and the first dog coin.
Other memecoins were minted and developed in response to this, including Shiba Inu (SHIB) which was introduced in August 2020 under the helm of its mysterious founder, Ryoshi. However, unlike other memecoins, Ryoshi didn’t just want to ride on the coattails of Dogecoin – he wanted to surpass Dogecoin and provide more services demanded by the community.
This demand led to devs’ exploration of NFTs, play-to-earn (P2E) games, and decentralized finance (a.k.a. “defi) exchanges for trading cryptocurrency. The Shiba Inu coin known as “SHIB” is a fungible cryptocurrency, which means that these coins can be replicated, traded, bought, sold, and burned.
Currently, the official SHIB Twitter account has over 3.4 million followers, building a massive following despite having only a third of Dogecoin’s market capitalization.
SHIB Tokenomics
Building on the Ethereum blockchain has enabled SHIB’s developers and community to expand their token offerings. Here’s a quick breakdown of the three different tokens used in the SHIB ecosystem.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
This is the SHIB ecosystem’s primary token that can be swapped with other ERC20 tokens within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Since its founding, Shiba Inu has often been dismissed as a memecoin solely for pump-and-dump purposes, which savvy investors could use to ride a profitable trend. Many skeptics would quickly buy the coin, then sell it whenever its prices suddenly soared. The coin saw a significant price gain in 2021.
However, the additional projects being developed within the SHIB ecosystem have put it well ahead of other dog meme crypto tokens such as Dogelon Mars and Floki Inu.
Bone (BONE)
BONE is only available on ShibaSwap, the SHIB ecosystem’s decentralized exchange platform. It’s a governance token that allows its holders to vote on ecosystem proposals and projects. The more Bone tokens a holder has, the greater the weight of their vote in the community’s decision-making process, known as the “Doggy DAO”. Currently, the ecosystem only has 250,000,000 Bone tokens.
Leash (LEASH)
LEASH, a.k.a. “Dogekiller”, was initially released as a rebase token with a price tied to that of Dogecoin. Because of its initially flexible monetary base, LEASH’s supply would go up or down to change the token price without affecting any individual user’s token share. However, this rebase function was soon removed, and it was turned back into an ERC20 token.
Today, LEASH functions primarily as access to the sale of Shiba Lands. Shiba Lands are virtual lands found within the Shiberse Metaverse, and there’s a queue system for those who want to buy plots of Shiba Land. However, you need LEASH tokens to get early access to the queue. There are currently 107,647 minted LEASH tokens, and the price of this token has only risen with every Shiba Inu project announced.
SHIB Ecosystem Projects
SHIB may have started as a memecoin, but its developers have quickly expanded into promising tools and projects that show a promising future in Web3. Here’s a quick look at the tools under SHIB development.
ShibaSwap
ShibaSwap is the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s decentralized finance (defi) network. Through ShibaSwap, users can exchange cryptocurrencies using “smart contracts”, which allow traders to trade assets immediately without hefty trading fees.
Shiba Inu Incubator
Initially called the SHIB ecosystem’s “Artist Incubator”, this tool aims to make members of the “SHIB Army” (a.k.a. SHIB supporters) bring their inspiration to life. This non-fungible token (NFT) tool aims to help artist-applicants get support for their work, which will then be minted, displayed, and sold or auctioned through ShibaSwap.
Shiboshis
Shiboshies are non-fungible tokens created and minted in Shiba Inu’s ecosystem. These NFTs are permanently recorded on the Ethereum blockchain ledger. Currently, there are 10,000 Shiboshis with unique collectible features – these can be purchased through ShibaSwap or the NFT marketplace OpenSea without extra fees.
Shiba Eternity: The P2E Future Of SHIB
One of SHIB’s long-awaited projects is the crypto P2E collectible card game called Shiba Eternity. The Shiba ecosystem development team first confirmed the name of the game on August 2, 2022 on Twitter. Though it was confirmed that the game would be released on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, there was no announcement of a PC release.
Along with the announcement of the game’s official name, Shytoshi Kusama gave a sneak peek of two cards for the much-awaited crypto-game: “Sold Early” and “Ancestral Blessing”. The “Sold Early” card forces everyone to discard all their cards, while the “Ancestral Blessing” card gives targeted friendly fighters an attack and defense boost.
The devs team also mentioned ongoing work on a “testing schedule” for Shiba Eternity. Crypto enthusiasts and Shiba Inu followers are expecting a September 2022 launch date, as per previous announcements from the devs team.
Those on the Shiba Inu Discord channel may have already noticed the existence of a separate Shiba Eternity channel, where moderators have boasted about the game’s over 10,000 Shiboshi heroes, card visuals, and thrilling battles. Fans are currently waiting for more information about supported blockchain functionalities within the game, as well as other game features such as token earning and trading.
Conclusion
The SHIB ecosystem’s future projects and evolving tools have made it a promising investment. SHIB may have started as a memecoin, but its devs’ work has quickly made it a legitimate token. Many even consider it the future of Web3 and cryptocurrency.
Note that all cryptocurrencies are high-volatile investments, including SHIB. Before you invest in any crypto project or token, browse our site and read our basic guides. By learning more about the crypto market and upcoming developments, you increase your chances of making solid returns on your chosen crypto investment.
FAQs About Shiba Inu Coin
Can I mine Shiba Inu coins?
No, you can’t mine Shiba Inu. Shiba Inu is Ethereum-based, and its system currently doesn’t allow direct mining of the coin. However, there is a workaround – you can join a mining pool that lets you mine other tokens, then automatically convert them into Shiba Inu. Note that joining these mining pools typically requires high hashing power and a mining fee.
What’s the difference between SHIB and Dogecoin?
While both SHIB and Doegcoin started as memecoins, they have major differences in terms of their token types, supplies, and purposes.
Dogecoin started in 2013, with a higher approximate market capitalization of $17 billion. Its yearly issuance of new tokens is limited to 5 billion Dogecoins.
On the other hand, Shiba Inu began as a crypto project in 2020 with an estimated market capitalization of $11 billion. No new tokens have been issued – in fact, over 40% of the initially minted supply of 1 quadrillion coins has already been permanently burned out of circulation.
What is the total supply of SHIB?
The current circulating supply of Shiba Inu (SHIB) is 590 Trillion SHIB. The initial supply of minted SHIB was a record-breaking 1 quadrillion tokens in August 2020.
Half of this was locked into the decentralized exchange Uniswap, while the rest was transferred by SHIB founder Ryoshi to Vitalk Buterin, the founder of Ethereum. Because of community concerns about SHIB’s decentralization and susceptibility to manipulation, Buterin burned 410.24 trillion SHIB, permanently removing them from circulation.
