Shiba Inu has chased its meme coin rival since 2020: will it pass in the next three years?
Contents
- What is SHIB?
- Does SHIB have more growth potential?
- Dogecoin: Larger community, ‘more attractive’ supply
- SHIB has ‘killed’ DOGE before
- Shiba Inu price prediction for 2025
- FAQs
There is a dog fight that has been brewing in the crypto world for the past two years. The cryptocurrency Shiba Inu, named for the Japanese hunting dog that is also used as the image for Dogecoin, launched in 2020 and has been dubbed the ‘Dogecoin killer’. Its goal is to not only be a 100% decentralised project but overtake its canine rival.
SHIB managed to pass DOGE in October 2021 in terms of market capitalisation, though it quickly gave the position back. Does Shiba Inu have the stamina to do it again in the next five years?
What is SHIB?
Shiba Inu was launched in 2020 by an anonymous founder known only as Ryoshi as a cryptocurrency to rival Dogecoin. At first glance, there is a lot of similarity between the two: both describe themselves as meme coins and use the Japanese hunting dog as their logo.
Delving deeper, there is a key separating factor. Dogecoin was created as a joke in 2013, and the expression ‘meme coin’, meaning a cryptocurrency whose rise is powered by social media chatter, was invented to describe it. However, Dogecoin managed, with some help from Elon Musk, to climb its way into the top 20 cryptocurrencies.
Shiba Inu on the other hand was created with a goal to become a completely decentralised crypto project, meaning it would be run entirely by its community. The potential of this project means the cryptocurrency is attracting many investors.
Does SHIB have more growth potential?
There are many factors that can impact a cryptocurrency’s value, but utility has evolved as a key ingredient. After the creation of Ethereum, there is a growing focus on the purpose of crypto projects, rather than just their role as a store of value.
SHIB has demonstrated it has the potential to develop utility, which has brough praise from observers, who suggest that it is a cryptocurrency that can grow over the next five years. In July 2021, Shiba Inu launched its own decentralised exchange, ShibaSwap. It has many of the same functions as other decentralised exchanges, though it uses canine terms for those functions: users can ‘dig’ to provide liquidity, ‘bury’ to stake tokens, and ‘fetch’ to exchange one token for another.
The crypto project has its own ecosystem of different tokens. As well as SHIB, there is LEASH, a token that incentivises people to use ShibaSwap, and BONE, a governance token designed to enable the project’s 100% decentralised goal.
The Value Trend argues that Shiba Inu’s many use cases are encouraging more investors to hold the token. “DOGE coin was created… as a joke, and has no real practical value or much potential for it,” the site wrote. “Shiba, on the other hand, does offer some more potential applications, and could therefore still see the increased value, especially given the momentum it has gathered.”
The sentiment that Shiba offers more utility and therefore more potential value is one felt by many experts. Finder wrote: “Shiba Inu brings a few new ideas to the table, and the fact that it is based on the Ethereum network means it can integrate new technologies easier than Dogecoin can.” However, the site also points to Dogecoin’s many advantages.
Dogecoin: Larger community, ‘more attractive’ supply
Finder highlights Dogecoin’s larger community, greater amount of price data and greater public exposure. This is not surprising as Dogecoin has been running seven years longer than Shiba Inu, giving it first mover advantage.
Dogecoin’s first mover advantage is not to be underestimated. The original meme coin has been accepted by more than 1,000 merchants, against Shiba’s approximately 100. Dogecoin also has the backing of Elon Musk, who has called it “the people’s crypto”. Musk also clarified in October 2021 that he is not holding any SHIB.
—
The tokenomics of Dogecoin are being hailed as an advantage over its newcomer rival. DOGE was created as an inflationary currency designed for accessible peer-to-peer transactions. Currently, there are 132 billion DOGE in circulation with an extra five billion, approximately, added every year.
Meanwhile, Shiba Inu launched with a supply of one quadrillion tokens. Since then, half were sent to Ethereum's founder, Vitalik Buterin, who burned the SHIB. This has left more than 500 trillion SHIB in circulation, or more than 60,000 SHIB for every single person on the planet. A critic from Coin Rivet has described this as a “ridiculous” and a “much less sophisticated” approach.
SHIB has ‘killed’ DOGE before
The large circulation supply of Shiba Inu means its price is extremely low, at just $0.000033, as of 30 December 2021, a tiny fraction of Dogecoin’s price of $0.17.
Despite the large price differences, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are neck and neck when ranked by market capitalisation, the former 12th and SHIB 13th. Shiba has proved it is capable of overtaking its rival. On 28 October 2021, Shiba Inu surpassed Dogecoin’s market capitalisation, reaching ninth place in the rankings, after SHIB hit a value of $0.00008. SHIB then saw a price drop, and fell back below DOGE in the rankings.
It is well within reach for SHIB to pass its rival’s market capitalisation, but overtaking its price might prove more difficult.
Shiba Inu price prediction for 2025
Some experts argue that for SHIB to build a greater price momentum it needs to start burning more tokens. The cryptocurrency announced it would burn a percentage of SHIB after every transaction that uses NowPayments, but it has barely made a dent in its circulating supply. PlanetCrypto said Shiba Inu’s most likely path to $0.01 is through more burning.
—
Some Shiba bulls are forecasting a price of $1 by 2025. Nasdaq recently stated that the coin's price history has given it good footing for another price increase. The token’s price has surged 60,000,000% since November 2020. To reach $1, SHIB needs to see an increase of just over 30,000% from its current price, which is “relatively mild compared to its historical performance”, according to Nasdaq.
Yet, the consensus from Shiba Inu price predictions for 2025 suggest $1 is an unlikely goal. Gov Capital estimates that the coin will reach $0.001 next year and its SHIB price prediction for 2025 is around the $0.007 mark. This is much lower than its Dogecoin prediction, which Gov.Capital expects to pass $0.70 in five years’ time.
Unfortunately for SHIB, it is a similar forecast from PricePrediction, who estimate a steady rise from $0.00004 next year to $0.0001 in 2025. Again, this is nowhere near Dogecoin’s forecasted 2025 price of $0.77.
CoinPriceForecast has given a slightly more optimistic estimate. Its Shiba Inu coin price prediction for 2025 is $0.0003, still not quite as high as the predicted price for Dogecoin in 2025 of $0.32.
DigitalCoinPrice does not think SHIB will even break the $0.0001 barrier in the next five years. Its Shiba Inu price prediction for 2025 is $0.00007. It expects the ‘Dogecoin killer’ to reach $0.00014 by 2028. Meanwhile, DigitalCoinPrice forecasts that Dogecoin will pass $0.70 in 2028.
It seems very unlikely that Shiba Inu will reach the $1 mark, at least not with its current circulating supply. If SHIB manages to climb to $1 with its current supply, its market capitalisation would reach $550 trillion, more than five times the worth of all goods and services produced, according to Nasdaq.
The common forecast is for SHIB to climb to roughly the $0.001 mark in the next five years. This has made some analysts, including those from Motley Fool, Nasdaq and Reuters, advise against adding the meme coin to an investment portfolio.
FAQs
It might be. The consensus from Shiba Inu price predictions is a steady rise for the meme coin. Gov Capital and CoinPriceForecast expect SHIB to pass $0.0001 in 2025. However, Nasdaq points out that it is unrealistic for the coin to reach $1 in the next few years with its current circulating supply. Remember, you should always do your own research before investing.
It could do. The Value Trend argues that SHIB will see an increase in value due to its potential applications, such as smart contracts and staking. However, critics debate how high the meme coin can climb without burning a significant amount of its supply. Remember, you should never invest more than you can afford to lose.
It depends. Shiba Inu’s price history has demonstrated huge potential, with growth of 60,000,000% since November 2020, according to Nasdaq. However, cryptocurrencies are volatile and SHIB is no exception. Shiba Inu’s price history is not a good indication of its future price.
