The success of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin has spawned many imitators trying to replicate it. However, at the moment, only one of them has managed to become a real competitor to Dogecoin. Yes, we're talking about Shiba Inu, the cryptocurrency that its creators call the "Dogecoin killer". What's the Shiba Inu coin? What is the Shiba Inu coin used for? You'll find all the answers here.

What is the Shiba Inu coin?

The Shiba Inu cryptocurrency (SHIB) is the token of the Shiba Inu decentralised ecosystem. This ecosystem is under development and currently includes the ShibaSwap decentralised exchange. What other elements will be in this ecosystem is difficult to say due to the lack of a roadmap.

The project was named after the Shiba Inu dog breed, whose image became the logo of the first meme cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. The project proclaims the creation of the best decentralised ecosystem in the world as its main goal.

The creators listed the founding principles of their project:

1. The project started from zero with nothing.
2. The project wasn't founded on an existing community or pre-assembled team.
3. The project's community loves Shiba Inu dogs.

Despite the fact that the project is relatively young and its prospects are vague, it has a close-knit group of followers numbering over a million people who call themselves the ShibArmi or SHIBArmy, alternatively.

Shiba Inu token characteristics (as of 01/12/2021)

Who created the Shiba Inu coin?

The founder of the Shiba Inu project is a person or group of persons under the pseudonym Ryoshi. They don't disclose their real name (or names).

I have said from the beginning, I am a nobody, I am not important. The efforts to unmask my 'identity', even if successful, would be underwhelming. I am just some guy of no consequence tapping at a keyboard, and I am replaceable. I am Ryoshi. — Ryoshi, Founder of Shiba Inu

When did the Shiba Inu coin come out?

The Shiba Inu project was launched in August 2020. After the tokens were issued, 50% of them were blocked on the Uniswap decentralised crypto exchange in the liquidity pool. The remaining tokens were sent to Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin. Thus, the creators of Shiba Inu did not reserve part of the project's tokens for themselves.

Is the Shiba Inu coin legit?

At the moment, we can already say that Shiba Inu is most likely a legitimate project. However, there are many signs that this project is overrated, and it's mainly hype driving its price.

How does the Shiba Inu coin work?

The Shiba Inu cryptocurrency doesn't have its own blockchain. It's an ERC-20 token launched on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the founders, they chose the Ethereum blockchain for their project because it's already secure and time-tested.

On 6 July 2021, the project developers launched their own decentralised exchange, ShibaSwap. Users can earn on staking and provide liquidity to pools on it. There are two additional tokens in ShibaSwap:

• LEASH. Initially, it was created as a rebase token, but then this idea was abandoned. At the moment, it can be used for staking or providing liquidity on ShibaSwap. It has a fixed supply of only 107,646 tokens, all of which are in circulation.
• BONE. This is a governance token in the Doggy DAO decentralised autonomous organisation. It allows users to propose and vote on changes to the Shiba INU protocol. The number of votes each voter has depends on the number of coins they have. Its emission is 250,000,000 tokens. At the time of writing, there are 6,975,299 BONE tokens in circulation.

In October 2021, a non-fungible token (NFT) project called Shiboshis was launched within the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

What is the Shiba Inu coin used for?

At the moment, the Shiba Inu token doesn't have many uses. In addition to the traditional cryptocurrency transactions between users and using it as a speculative asset, the coin can also be used on the ShibaSwap exchange:

• "Bury". You can stake your Shiba Inu coins to gain returns.
• "Dig". Shiba Inu coins can be used to provide liquidity and receive a reward for this in BONE tokens.

Will the Shiba Inu coin go up?

The Shiba Inu cryptocurrency is one of the fastest-growing assets in terms of capitalisation. According to the website CoinMarketCap.com, the SHIB token's ROI for those who purchased it at the very beginning is an astonishing 2,864,599.59%. Nevertheless, the asset has shown it's able to fall as sharply as to rise.

What price did the Shiba Inu coin start at?

After the start of the project in August 2020, the price of the SHIB token was $0.00000000051.

How many Shiba Inu coins are there?

The initial issue was 1 quadrillion SHIB tokens. However, due to the fact that by now, almost half of the tokens have been burned, the current circulating supply of tokens is 549 trillion.

How many Shiba Inu coins have been burned?

Soon after the start of the project, its creators sent more than half of all Shiba Inu tokens to Vitalik Buterin.

We sent over 50% of the TOTAL supply to Vitalik. There is no greatness without a vulnerable point, and as long as VB doesn't rug us, then SHIBA will grow and survive. — Ryoshi, Founder of Shiba Inu

On 12 May 2021, Vitalik sent over 50 trillion SHIB tokens to the India Covid-Crypto Relief Fund, then he sent over 410 trillion tokens to a non-existent address, thus burning them.

In addition, the developers and the Shiba Inu community periodically burn a certain amount of coins.

Is the Shiba Inu coin worth it?

Undoubtedly, those who bought Shiba Inu coins this September or, perhaps more importantly, in April, made huge profits. However, the coin's capitalisation is now quite high, and, at the same time, the project doesn't have any significant fundamental reasons for growth other than the hype and the generally bullish sentiment in the crypto market. Thus, the Shiba Inu coin is currently a rather risky asset, even compared to other popular cryptocurrencies.

How to buy the Shiba Inu coin

Currently, it's not difficult to buy a Shiba Inu coin. Shiba Inu is traded on many crypto exchanges as well as online exchanges.

Where is the Shiba Inu coin listed?

Shiba Inu is listed on dozens of crypto exchanges, both large and small, centralised and decentralised. Crypto exchanges where you can buy SHIB include such giants as Binance, Coinbase, Huobi and KuCoin. StormGain crypto exchange also allows you to buy and sell Shiba Inu Coin.