Shiba Inu (SHIB -4.84%) minted some millionaires after its launch on Aug. 1, 2020. The meme coin, which was created as a light-hearted parody of Dogecoin, started trading at just $0.000000000056 per token.
Its price soared to an all-time high of $0.000086 on Oct. 27, 2021, but it now trades at about $0.000024. Therefore, a $100 investment on the first day would have blossomed to $153.9 million before shrinking back to about $42.9 million today.
Shiba Inu, like many other cryptocurrencies, stumbled in 2022 as rising interest rates drove investors toward more conservative investments. But over the past 12 months, its price has more than tripled as the rates stabilized and the crypto market warmed up again. So, could it generate even more millionaire-maker gains over the next few years?
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What sets Shiba Inu apart from other cryptocurrencies?
Shiba Inu can't be mined like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ether (ETH -5.29%). Its entire supply of nearly one quadrillion tokens was actually pre-mined on the Ethereum blockchain prior to its launch. However, a few anonymous "whales" still hold trillions of those tokens and can spark massive price swings with their unpredictable trades.
Several catalysts could drive Shiba Inu's price higher. First, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved the initial filings for the first spot price Ether ETFs. Since Shiba Inu is an ERC-20 token on the same Ethereum blockchain as the Ether coin, some investors believe the meme coin could eventually get its own ETFs. Shiba Inu's pseudonymous creator, Shytoshi Kusama, recently addressed that speculation by tweeting that he'll "focus on what's coming" with a #staytuned hashtag.
Second, Shiba Inu's ecosystem is expanding. In 2022, it launched ShibaDEX, a cross-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) which served as an official crypto wallet for its own tokens. In 2023, it launched Shibarium, a new blockchain protocol built on Ethereum which supports the development of decentralized apps. That expansion could stabilize Shiba Inu's price by attracting more developers to its blockchain and driving more people to use its tokens.
Lastly, 41% of Shiba Inu's tokens have already been burned (sent to dead wallets and taken out of circulation) since its launch. The planned launch of an automated "burn portal" on Shibarium should simplify, streamline, and acceleratethat process. In other words, Shiba Inu's supply should continue to decline and increase the value of its remaining tokens.
But can Shiba Inu generate more millionaire-maker gains?
Analysts' price targets for Shiba Inu are all over the map, and some of those estimates are far too bullish. For example, Jason Williams and Yazan, two widely followed Bitcoinanalysts, recently claimed Shiba Inu's price could hit $0.05 in a bull market. That suggested rally would turn a $500 investment into more than $1 million, all in a year or two.
But if Shiba Inu reaches a nickel per token, its market cap would hit $29.4 trillion -- making it the world's most valuable asset and surpassing the combined market cap of the Magnificent Seven stocks. That doesn't sound like a realistic target.
By comparison, Coinpedia estimates that Shiba Inu's price could reach an average price of $0.000155 by 2030. That would turn a $500 investment into about $3,200. Crypto Basic believes that if Shiba Inu grows to about 10% the size of Bitcoin and its supply remains stable, its price could eventually reach $0.00023. That rally -- which it didn't set a firm time frame for -- would turn a $500 investment into roughly $4,800. Therefore, Shiba Inu probably won't replicate its previous gains and turn a few hundred dollars into a few million dollars over the next few years. However, it could rally higher as its ecosystem expands, its supply decreases, and the crypto winter ends.
Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
