Although Bitcoin may be the most popular and sought-after cryptocurrency in the world, it was the Shiba Inu that ruled the world over the past year. According to cryptocurrency price-tracking website CoinMarketCap, Shiba Inu has emerged as the most popular cryptocurrency in 2021, surpassing Bitcoin. It may come as a surprise to some that Shiba Inu is actually a spin-off of an existing meme coin — Dogecoin — which enjoyed a brief period of fame in 2021 before being phased out.
According to CoinMarketCap, Shiba Inu received more than 188 million views over the course of the previous 12 months on social media. Once again, Elon Musk deserves to be credited, as he has been very vocal about meme coins in the past year, including Shiba Inu, which can be attributed to him. He literally adopted a Shiba Inu dog, and his tweets caused a spike in the price of the Shiba Inu token, which was immediately followed by another spike.
Musk posted a picture of a Shiba Inu meme going to the moon on October 18 to his Twitter account. At the time, the token was trading for $0.000026 per token (Rs 0.0020). According to CoinMarketCap, his tweet increased the value of the coin by nearly 50%, pushing it to a high of $0.000044 (Rs 0.0033).
A result of the cryptocurrency’s exponential rise in popularity, it has become particularly popular amongst young investors. According to a recent report by cryptocurrency exchange platform WazirX, male investors in India preferred Shiba Inu over any other cryptocurrency, whereas female investors trusted Bitcoin with their money more than any other.
With 145 million views, Bitcoin was the second most viewed cryptocurrency this year, trailing only Ethereum. Meanwhile, Dogecoin was ranked third among the most viewed cryptocurrencies with 107 million views, followed by Cardano, which received approximately 86 million views, and Ethereum, which received approximately 81 million views.
Despite its increasing popularity among investors, the Shiba Inu continues to be a highly volatile breed. Eight whale accounts hold a combined total of nearly 70.52 percent of Shiba Inu coins. A single whale account owns a total of 41.03 percent of the total share capital. The token continues to react to social media trends, making the investment a risky proposition.
Before putting their money into Shina Inu, anyone interested in investing should research the market trends and consult with cryptocurrency experts.
