Shiba Inu (SHIB) is the worlds second-largest meme token by market cap and traces its origins as a Dogecoin killer. Taking on the leading memecoin in the crypto market, Shiba Inu was initially started as a joke but has since evolved into a serious project aiming for true decentralization and becoming 100% community owned.

Since its inception, the meme token and the Shiba ecosystem have garnered a huge fan following and a loyal community called the Shib Army. The mascot of the cryptocurrency of the Shiba Inu dog has been favored and tweeted about by prominent celebrities, further heightening its popularity.

Crypto investors who bought into SHIB at the time of launch at an extremely low price made immense profits, further driving more traders to add SHIB to their portfolios. Apart from its highly engaged community, the Shiba Inu coin is also a very popular cryptocurrency to invest in among new entrants into the market, owing to its low price.

The SHIB token is especially popular in emerging markets, as it is one of the most affordable among the top cryptocurrencies by market cap. As of March 2023, SHIB ranks 14 in market cap among digital assets.

Since its launch and stellar rise in the charts, Shiba Inu has evolved beyond being a joke-based cryptocurrency, having its own decentralized exchange ShibaSwap. In addition, the SHIB community actively supports social causes, has its incubator program to foster creativity, and plans to enter the lucrative arena of blockchain gaming and the metaverse.

SHIB is an ERC-20 token designed to work similar to Dogecoin but enjoys Ethereum compatibility. Its massive circulating supply, starting at a total supply of 1 quadrillion coins, was an intentional decision by its creators, as it makes the crypto highly affordable to all kinds of crypto traders.

The call seems to have paid off, with SHIB being among ETH whales' most held ERC-20 tokens. The intense interest in Shiba Inu among large holders or whales further supports the SHIB price and market cap.

While Dogecoin may be the original meme-based cryptocurrency, Shiba Inus soaring popularity led to the launch of a whole new family of dog-themed cryptocurrencies in the market.

ShibaSwap, the designated decentralized exchange (DEX) for the meme coin, offers more utility and value to SHIB holders, allowing them to stake their tokens and earn passive income. Stakers on ShibaSwap earn rewards in BONE while LEASH, the second token on the platform, doubles up as a rebase token.

Named after a Japanese dog breed also depicted in Dogecoins logo, Shiba Inu initially hit the market with the moniker Dogecoin killer. Shiba Inu dogs have captured the fascination of crypto enthusiasts, giving rise to several dog-inspired memecoins in the market since then.

Shiba Inu was created by an anonymous creator(s) under the pseudonym Ryoshi in August 2020. The person or persons wish to remain anonymous. They insist that they have kept no SHIB holdings for themselves in the interest of seeing the cryptocurrency be wholly decentralized and community-owned.

The meme coin soon caught the eye of crypto influencers, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ethereums creator, Vitalik Buterin. The cryptocurrency garnered more headlines in May 2021 when Buterin donated over 50 trillion SHIB coins to Indias COVID-19 relief fund.

His contribution was valued at over $1 billion at the time. The promotional tweets and news around the donation from Vitalk Buterin helped drive up investor interest. This raised the Shiba Inu price and trading volume, helping it break into the top cryptocurrencies by market cap.

In December 2021, the team of developers announced the concept of DOGGY DAO, an essential step toward the complete decentralization of the Shiba ecosystem. The DAO would get to decide which projects and crypto pairs will trade on the ShibaSwap DEX and, in the second stage, use SHIB as the governance token to help the Shib Army vote on proposals.

While the Ship Army rallies hard to drive the Shiba Inu price higher, it is doubtful that it could cross the critical $1 level in the future. While taking DOGE to $1 is a crucial movement, its extremely high circulating supply makes it almost impossible for the Dogecoin killer to aim for the same goal.

The Shiba Inu coin was among the strongest performers in 2021, with the SHIB to USD price rising by as much as 46,000,000%. It made several early investors very rich, one of the reasons why its community enjoys such high levels of engagement.

Despite multiple burn events, the Shiba Inu supply remains in the trillions. For the Shiba Inu rate to soar to $1, it would mean that its market cap would have to surge into hundreds of trillions of dollars. This amount would not only exceed that of Bitcoins market cap and that of the overall crypto market but also be well above the global GDP, which sits at under $100 trillion at the time of writing.

Its strong preference among traders has also made several businesses worldwide start accepting SHIB as a payment method, alongside BTC and DOGE. Although the current price of Shiba Inu has slipped from its all-time high level, the SHIB token continues to enjoy high liquidity and trading volume, making the most of the FOMO (fear of missing out) sentiment among retail traders hoping to make a quick buck.

On a serious note, however, the developers behind the cryptocurrency have become more committed to driving higher utility and engagement with their community through several announcements. The establishment of ShibaSwap and the upcoming Shiba Inu Games and its very own metaverse will drive up the live Shiba Inu price and value among cryptocurrencies. It could contribute to making it an attractive investment to consider.

The more the number of use cases for the SHIB token, the higher the price of SHIB and its market cap could get. In addition to rising utility, token burn events can also increase Shiba Inus appeal as a crypto asset to invest in. Periodic burns by the Shib Army and other community members help reduce the circulating supply of SHIB coins, creating a deflationary effect and supporting the SHIB price statistics in the market.

The highly engaged Shiba Inu community, Shib Army, conducts regular token burn events to reduce the Shiba Inus circulating supply. Such events positively impact the SHIB price, sending it higher for a short while as long as the market sentiment remains upbeat.

Bigger Entertainment is one of the biggest hosts of SHIB burn events, conducting such events around once a month to reduce their max supply and drive up the value of Shiba Inu by sending the tokens to a dead wallet.

Using the Burn feature on ShibaSwap is one way for token burning, and it also provides a way to earn SHIB and grow your crypto portfolio.

How to Burn SHIB on ShibaSwap

1. Connect your digital wallet to ShibaSwap DEX. Supported wallets include MetaMask, WalletConnect, and Coinbase Wallet.

2. Ensure that your wallet is funded with SHIB coins by buying Shiba Inu on BYDFi or other supported platforms.

3. Head to the Burn Portal link at the bottom of the ShibaSwap homepage.

4. Check the total APR on offer and select the number of SHIB tokens from your holdings you wish to transfer to the burn pool.

5. Remember that, unlike the Bury feature, you can never get back the SHIB crypto you contribute to Burn.

6. Sit back and earn passive income by getting rewards in RYOSHI tokens for burning Shiba Inu on ShibaSwap.

ShibaSwap is Shiba Inu's very own official decentralized exchange (DEX). You can use the ShibaSwap DEX to stake Shiba Inu and burn SHIB to generate attractive returns.

How to Stake or Bury SHIB on ShibaSwap

1. Connect your digital wallet to ShibaSwap. At present, the DEX supports MetaMask, WalletConnect, and Coinbase Wallet.

2. Fund your wallet by buying Shiba Inu on BYDFi or any other platform.

3. Click on the Bury tab to start staking Shiba Inu on ShibaSwap.

4. Check the latest APYs on offer and enter the number of SHIB tokens you wish to bury.

5. Click on Approve to confirm the transaction and sit back to earn rewards for staking SHIB.