Shiba Inu (SHIB -7.75%) wins as best investment vehicle of 2021, hands down. It's mind-blowing gains over the past year may have propelled some investors into millionaire status, even as its real world use remains questionable. If you'd invested just $100, depending on when, you might be set for life. Let's dive in.
As speculative as it gets
Investors who bought Shiba Inu at the beginning of 2021 likely didn't see what was coming. I don't think anyone anticipates a 53,241,775% one-year increase in their wildest dreams. If you'd invested $100 in Shiba Inu exactly a year ago, you'd have more than $53 million. And the price is down from its October highs; if you'd sold then, you'd be even richer.
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At the beginning of 2021, there were more than 4,500 tokens on the crypto market. That rose to nearly 8,000 by November, and a total market cap of nearly $2 trillion just for the top-10 traded coins. And it's not only the top tokens that have huge market caps. Although none comes close to Bitcoin's nearly $1 trillion, even those way down on the list are seeing heavy volume. Strike, No. 400 in terms of crypto market cap, has more than $117 million in market cap, and more than $16 million trades hands in a 24-hour period.
Theoretically, any one of these coins (or more than one) can see astronomical gains. Many of them have, even if not quite at the level of Shiba Inu. But unless you see real utility from the crypto investment of your choice, it may just be a guessing game as to which of the thousands out there will be the next Shiba Inu. Strike, for example, lost 44% over the past year. Streamr, No. 455 in crypto market cap (yes, I picked these randomly), has a $91 million market cap and gained 216% over the past year.
If you want to try your hand at getting fabulously wealthy from investing in cryptocurrency, you might have to diversify your holdings with exposure to new opportunities while limiting your risk from any one of them falling hard.
Just a roll of the dice?
The thing with Shiba Inu is that there isn't anything particularly special about it. Bitcoin has the first-mover advantage, and at this point, the market cap advantage, and its value as a storage unit and native internet coin gives it tremendous clout. Ethereum has incredible blockchain uses, and having been around for longer than similar tokens, it buttresses scores of blockchain and metaverse applications.
Shiba Inu is based on the Ethereum blockchain, like many other tokens. Its utility lies in its compatibility with Ethereum and Ethereum-based projects. There are a quadrillion Shiba Inu coins, so it's far from scarce (although half have been "burned" out of circulation). There's a dedicated trading site called ShibaSwap, although investors can buy it on most cryptocurrency exchanges. Fans have created a community for further development, and so far it supports an art incubator and the rescue of the Shiba Inu dog breed.
It isn't materially different than other coins, and the price has skyrocketed mostly based on its meme status (along with some help from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who bought a Shiba Inu breed dog.) Shiba Inu coin's price has fallen recently, losing 32% over the past month.
Should you invest in Shiba Inu coin now?
Let's remember that you can't time the market. If you'd invested your $100 in Shiba Inu anytime before the October high, you'd have come out with more than you'd put in if you held and sold at the high. But there were a few ups and downs on the way there, and you might have sold too soon. Finally, if you'd bought into the Shiba Inu craze and invested $100 sometime over the past two months, you probably lost some. So, while it's pretty amazing to see such an outsized annual gain, in practice there can't be any regrets.
The likelihood that someone invested $100 just in Shiba Inu and became rich because of it, while ignoring the thousands of other cryptocurrencies that probably lost investors money, is practically nil. The moral of the story isn't to kick yourself for missing the opportunity, or even to imagine that another one is coming. The lesson is to invest responsibly, which means placing your money in instruments that offer real value, and perhaps earmarking a small amount for higher-risk or alternative investments that offer the potential for colossal gains.
