Over the past year, Shiba Inu tokens have seemingly taken the world of crypto by storm. The meme coin, primarily developed as an alternative to dogecoin as a joke, may have a lot more going for it than meets the eye.
It’s time to discuss the ins and outs of the Shiba Inu ecosystem and learn how to buy Shiba Inu tokens.
Table of Contents
What is the Shiba Inu Ecosystem?
Founded by the anonymous developer under the alias ‘Ryoshi’, the Shiba Inu token (SHIB) came into existence in August of 2020. This Ethereum-based, community-run token manifested as an alternative to the well-known, canine meme turned cryptocurrency, Dogecoin (DOGE). As a result, SHIB became known as the “Dogecoin Killer.”
Unlike DOGE, which is a blockchain all on its own, SHIB is a token that exists on the Ethereum network rather than being a stand-alone coin.
Dogecoin began as a replica of Bitcoin, therefore it does not have all the features and upgrades that Ethereum (which includes Shiba Inu) possesses.
Ethereum could be on the right track to overthrow the empire that is Bitcoin.
Vitalik Buterin, a 27-year old, Russian-Canadian man who is also one of the youngest billionaires in the world, co-created Ethereum. This is the cryptocurrency used by the “ShibArmy” as Ryoshi has named existing SHIB holders.
Ethereum (ETH), along with Polygon (MATIC) and Uniswap (UNI) all came together this past May of 2021 to create the first-ever blockchain ecosystem.
SHIB is at the very center of this ecosystem, officially bringing decentralization to the crypto global market.
Blockchains
All blockchains are considered decentralized.
What is a block, you might ask? Simply put, it is a collection of data and records.
For bitcoin, it is a list of transactions. While this is similarly the case for Ethereum, a block as it applies to ETH can mean “smart contracts” as well.
Here’s what this essentially encompasses in terms of crypto:
Instead of just one individual having all the access to a particular blockchain, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, anyone who desires to look at them can do so.
Smart Contracts
A smart contract, to put it in the simplest words possible, is a code that only does something as a result of something else happening. It is often referred to as “if this…then that.”
The most common smart contracts are written on the Ethereum network with the use of solidity.
How can everyone benefit from smart contracts?
Smart contracts are mainly beneficial for two big reasons. They are mutable, meaning they will not change no matter what. They are also distributed, which means there are no discrepancies.
They allow its users to create new tokens and swap them, which is how the Shiba Inu ecosystem came to fruition.
How to Buy Shiba Inu (SHIB)
As highlighted by the official Shiba Token website, buying and swapping SHIB can be done in four, quick and easy steps:
Step One: Create Your MetaMask Wallet
First, create a MetaMask wallet. MetaMask is an app that can be obtained either on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or your mobile device (through IOS/Android).
Step Two: Add Ethereum (ETH) to Your MetaMask wallet
Once you have downloaded the app on your respective device, you can send ETH (Ethereum) to your MetaMask wallet by purchasing some directly through the application.
If you already possess any amount of ETH, you can transfer it to your MetaMask wallet using exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance.
Be sure to use the ERC-20 network before you begin transferring your ETH.
Step Three: Connect Your MetaMask Wallet to ShibaSwap
You will then connect your MetaMask wallet to ShibaSwap. ShibaSwap can be accessed directly through the official Shiba Token website.
After accessing the ShibaSwap section of the website, there will be a button in the top right portion of the screen to “connect your wallet.”
Clicking that button should give you the option to link your MetaMask wallet to ShibaSwap directly.
Step Four: Swap Your ETH for Shiba Inu Tokens
In completing these steps, you can then begin swapping the existing ETH from your MetaMask wallet for SHIB, LEASH, and/or BONE.
From there, click ‘select a token’ and proceed to enter the token address or search for it on the tokens list.
ShibaSwap will automatically detect whether or not you have ETH available for swapping.
SHIB
Given that SHIB is a token within the Ethereum network, it offers its holders rewards.
The token itself is an ERC-20 standardized token. ERC-20 is the standard name used for Ethereum blockchain tokens.
SHIB was created as a joke coin to serve as an alternative to dogecoin. In March of 2021, it skyrocketed by 300% in the cryptocurrency market after Elon Musk randomly tweeted about his desire to purchase a Shiba Inu. Many people took this as a subliminal message to invest in the Shiba Inu token.
LEASH
The LEASH token is a secondary token within the Shiba Inu ecosystem. This token was created to track the price of DOGE to become the “Dogecoin Killer”.
In the current time, that is no longer the case with the token now existing as a store of value.
BONE
The BONE token is the governance token of the platform with a total of $250 million supply.
If you own BONE, you have a say in the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of the Shiba Inu ecosystem. DAOs are something that most legitimate projects revolving around cryptocurrency and NFTs possess.
A DAO is essentially the method of governance in which the future decisions of a project are made entirely by a collective of the community.
Should You Buy Shiba Inu Tokens?
For quite some time, Vitalik Buterin owned half of the total SHIB supply. This was not an act of his own doing. The Shiba Inu community sent him the tokens after accessing his wallet address, making it appear as if he purchased the tokens on his own as a way to sponsor the crypto newcomers.
Vitalik donated $1 billion worth of Shiba Inu tokens to the Indian COVID-19 Relief Fund kickstarted by Sandeep (the owner of Polygon). He then burned the rest, which amounted to about $6.7 billion worth of Shiba Inu tokens.
“Burning” a coin or token means that the cryptocurrency is sent to an anonymous wallet that no single person can access, making its contents unusable. When you burn a coin, you increase its scarcity which, in theory, should increase the value of that coin.
Cryptocurrency experts debate whether or not SHIB will reach the elusive $0.01 value mark. We’re not here to confirm or debunk this, but to look at the logistics of it, for Shiba Inu to reach $0.01, it would have to rise in price by nearly 250 times its current price.
Ryoshi himself stated that SHIB has “the ability to outpace the value of dogecoin, exponentially, without ever crossing the $0.01 mark.”
The direct words of Ryoshi tell us that he never intended for SHIB to reach $0.01 because he was, and still is, confident that it will outperform its competing coins well before potentially reaching that point.
What Are the Drawbacks? Should You Worry?
Shiba Inu currently ranks number 12 on ‘Coin Market Cap’ with nearly $24 billion. It rose almost 18% in the last 30 days but fell 13.4% in the last seven days. However, it went up more than 400% in the last 90 days.
SHIB is experiencing a “price retracement,” which is considered relatively normal. It is essentially going through a “cool-down” period for the market to allow something referred to as “profit-taking’.
So, while SHIB is currently dropping, it should not be a cause for concern.
Is There More to Purchasing Shiba Inu Tokens?
A few more things you should take into consideration when buying Shiba Inu tokens are digging and burying.
Digging (Providing Liquidity)
The first and most crucial step to providing liquidity is understanding the significance of “impermanent loss” and how to avoid it. Impermanent loss is when the liquidity you provide to a liquidity pool causes you to lose coins.
This loss of funds is only temporary until the liquidity provider (LP) decides to remove their liquidity.
ShibaSwap offers rewards to its holders who provide liquidity to specific types of Shiba Inu pairs. Essentially, providing your earned tokens for other traders to utilize will allow you to receive something in return as proof of liquidity pool ownership.
Burying (Staking)
What you own after providing liquidity is referred to as “liquidity pool tokens (LP tokens).” If you lock up or stake your LP tokens on ShibaSwap, they reward you.
Burying your LP tokens further leads to earning BONE.
Final Thoughts
We discussed in-depth how to buy Shiba Inu. This was a hefty helping of information to hold onto, but whether or not you choose to use this guide on how to buy Shiba Inu, keeping an eye out on the Shiba Inu token, as well as the rest of the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem it exists in, would not be a bad idea.