What is Shiba Inu (SHIB)?
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min
In short
Shiba Inu is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, released in 2020 by an anonymous creator. It began as a memecoin referencing Dogecoin, and an exchange and a layer 2 were later built around it. The token itself has no underlying revenue, and its price depends heavily on attention.
Key points
- An ERC-20 token on Ethereum, not a chain of its own at the start
- Half the supply was sent to Vitalik Buterin, who burned most of it in 2021
- An exchange (ShibaSwap) and a layer 2 (Shibarium) were added later
- It is a memecoin: no revenue or technical necessity underpins the price
Definition
A memecoin issued on Ethereum, around which a decentralised exchange and a dedicated layer 2 were later built.
Shiba Inu was launched as an Ethereum memecoin in the wake of Dogecoin's rise. There was no technical problem it set out to solve; community coordination and virality were the point. That is a fundamental difference from assets designed around a use case.
As a launch stunt, half the total supply was sent unsolicited to Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin's address. In 2021 he burned most of it by sending it to an unspendable address and donated the rest, including to an Indian Covid relief fund. The resulting reduction in supply is a frequently cited part of its history.
An ecosystem followed: the ShibaSwap exchange, the related LEASH and BONE tokens, and Shibarium, an Ethereum layer 2 launched in 2023 that charges fees in BONE and is designed to burn SHIB as transactions occur. Whether any of this generates sustained demand has to be judged from on-chain activity, case by case.
In practice the token is used for speculative trading and circulation within its community. As an ERC-20 it works in any Ethereum wallet and exchange, but transfers require ETH for gas.
Watch out for
- · It is a memecoin — no business or revenue supports the price
- · Multiple related tokens and a layer 2 exist, and fake tokens using the same name circulate; always verify the contract address
- · The unit count is enormous, so it is easy to misread amounts by orders of magnitude
Frequently asked questions
How does SHIB differ from Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a Proof of Work coin with its own blockchain; SHIB is a token issued on Ethereum. Their technical foundations are entirely different.