What is Shiba Inu?
Shiba Inu is a meme coin: a cryptocurrency inspired by an internet joke, in this case the Shiba Inu dog breed also made famous by Dogecoin. It was created in 2020 by an anonymous person or group using the name "Ryoshi".
SHIB is a token on Ethereum, which means it follows Ethereum's ERC-20 token standard and does not have its own base blockchain. Its supply was set at one quadrillion tokens at launch, a deliberately huge number typical of meme coins.
How does it work?
SHIB transfers are recorded on Ethereum, so they rely on Ethereum's proof of stake security. Over time, the community built more around the token, including a decentralized exchange called ShibaSwap and other tokens such as BONE and LEASH.
In 2023, the project launched Shibarium, a layer 2 network. A layer 2 is a separate network that processes transactions more cheaply and then links back to Ethereum. Part of the activity on Shibarium is used to burn SHIB, meaning tokens are sent to an address no one can access, permanently removing them from circulation.
What is it used for?
SHIB has few uses outside its own ecosystem. Most demand comes from trading and community interest rather than from a product or service. Buying or moving SHIB on Ethereum also requires ETH to pay network fees.
- Trading and speculation on exchanges
- Using apps in the Shiba Inu ecosystem, such as ShibaSwap
- Taking part in community activity and token burns
Key facts
- Launched: 2020
- Creator: an anonymous founder known as "Ryoshi"
- Consensus: secured by Ethereum's proof of stake
- Native blockchain: Ethereum (ERC-20 token), with the Shibarium layer 2
Explainer written by Finvane from official project documentation. It is not investment advice.