SHIB vs DOGE: which dog to back in this fight?

Who let the dogs out? The crypto community has gone completely crazy for canine coins. Tokens inspired by the cute Shiba Inu puppy, whose meme delighted the internet years ago, sometimes called pupcoins, or more generally memecoins, have become the hottest cryptocurrencies on the market. Now, you can also get your piece of the action and trade Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) on StormGain, but which pup should you put your money on?

Shiba Inu and Dogecoin may have both started out as jokes, but they recently made the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, rubbing up against famous altcoins such as Ripple (XRP), Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA). They aren't even the only canine coins in the competition, with others such as HUSKYX also making big gains lately. But we're going to focus on the two top dogs. What are the differences between them?

Technical differences

Shiba Inu Crypto and Dogecoin are both based on the same meme, but these cryptos are quite different breeds. In fact, only one of these, Dogecoin, is technically a coin. The Dogecoin network, forked from Litecoin (LTC), has its own dedicated blockchain, and DOGE coin transactions are native to this chain. When you make a trade with DOGE, that transaction is logged on the Dogecoin blockchain, just like with Bitcoin and other distinct cryptocurrencies. SHIB, on the other hand, is a token on the Ethereum blockchain. Transactions of SHIB are recorded on the Ethereum chain rather than on its own.

The practical effect of this is that DOGE is a coin that can be mined, and Dogecoin itself works on a proof-of-work consensus algorithm similar to Bitcoin. The developers plan to upgrade to a proof-of-stake algorithm in the near future, which is a model favoured by more advanced cryptos. One can't mine SHIB because it does not have a consensus mechanism to enable this. However, the developers of Shiba Inu did create a platform called ShibaSwap exchange, on which users can stake their SHIB holdings in liquidity pools in exchange for token rewards.

There is much more SHIB than DOGE...for now

Both dog-themed cryptos also differ in terms of supply. Not only do they start at different numbers, but those numbers are rending in different directions. The supply of Shiba Inu tokens is started at a mind-boggling one quadrillion SHIB, much higher than DOGE's current supply of about 132 billion. But here's the thing: SHIB's total supply is shrinking, while DOGE's is actually growing.

DOGE's supply isn't deducted from a limited pool a la BTC. Instead, miners mining for Dogecoin actually mints brand new coins, adding to the total supply in circulation. The Dogecoin mining protocol is designed to slowly decrease the amount of DOGE that can be mined in a year, but the total supply will still go up. Meanwhile, SHIB's initially large supply is going down, sometimes very dramatically. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was recently gifted 500 trillion SHIB by the developers, which he then proceeded to burn, drastically cutting down the supply. The sudden drop in supply, in turn, created a huge demand for SHIB with a corresponding price increase. Eventually, the lines on the chart will cross, and DOGE should become more plentiful than SHIB in the future.

Price of the puppies

Each crypto in this doggy duo also differs from the other in terms of price. At the time of writing, DOGE is trading at about $0.26; SHIB looks much more affordable at $0.000055. However, both SHIB and DOGE have seen exceptional growth recently. A large enough investment can yield significant returns, with analysts predicting DOGE to hit between $1 and $1.50 over the next year. SHIB's unprecedented growth certainly created millionaires and maybe even billionaires who invested early, and although its growth has slowed recently, analysts have predicted that it could reach heights of $0.000094 or more, rewarding investors who hold enough of the token.

Watch out for influencers

When considering the price of these meme coins, one should bear in mind that they both owe their amazing growth due to buzz on social media. Dogecoin is, of course, championed by Elon Musk, whose Twitter account is incredibly influential on certain market assets. Musk himself is in business with Dogecoin and frequently encourages his Twitter followers to send it to the moon. The Tesla CEO often makes joking references to the meme, calling himself 'Dogefather' and 'Lorde Edge' (as in, Elder Doge?). Wordplay aside, it's clear that this billionaire is still invested in DOGE, both for amusement and profit. Who knows what game he'll play next?

SHIB has a similar story of being a social media sensation. As previously mentioned, Vitalik Buterin has been a big influence on the price, but another factor has been the Shiboshi NFT collection. NFTs are a popular section of the cryptocurrency market right now, and the Shiba Inu team skilfully used them to promote their token. All in all, anyone interested in trading either SHIB or DOGE would do well to stay up to date on social media, the NFT market, and crypto influencers!

Trade SHIB/DOGE on StormGain today!

Both of these exciting cryptos are now available on StormGain along with 150+ other crypto instruments, but which dog will win the race? Take the opportunity to invest in SHIB, DOGE or both while benefitting from StormGain perks such as high leverage, profit-sharing, zero-commission trades and loyalty benefits.

Pick your pup

StormGain's new SHIB/DOGE pair allows you to play the competing pupcoins against each other for maximum profit. Right now, both SHIB/DOGE have huge potential, and no one quite knows which one will come out on top. But, by using this instrument, you can participate in this battle directly. If your pup of choice becomes the top dog in the crypto market, you'll get your share of the prize!

Not a StormGain user yet? Sign up in just a few seconds to start trading today and join the clash of canines!