In 2021, Shiba Inu (SHIB -0.79%) soared more than 42,000,000%, creating more wealth in a single year than most assets create in a century. Unfortunately, the meme token has not been spared during the recent crypto market crash. Since peaking last October, its price has plunged by about 70%.
Of course, a rebound is always possible. After all, its developer community has a scaling solution, a game based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a Shiba Inu metaverse in the works. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Despite its breakout performance last year, the meme token still lacks utility. And apart from its popularity (which seems to be fading), there is nothing exceptional or unique about Shiba Inu.
That doesn't mean its price will continue to fall. No one knows the future. But cryptocurrencies like Fantom (FTM -8.07%) and Internet Computer (ICP 0.49%) are backed by a much stronger investment thesis, and I'd buy both cryptos before buying Shiba Inu. Here's why.
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1. Fantom
Fantom is a programmable blockchain powered by the FTM token. The platform is secured by an innovative proof-of-stake protocol known as Lachesis, which allows validator nodes (computers) to reach consensus independently. That means each node can verify transactions without waiting for confirmation from every other node on the network, which makes the blockchain very fast.
In fact, Fantom brands itself as the "fastest public blockchain in crypto," citing its ability to finalize transactions in approximately one second. Additionally, the Fantom blockchain has been clocked at 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), and aims to achieve 300,000 TPS in the future. That throughput makes Fantom much more scalable than Ethereum, which is the most popular ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) services.
On that note, Fantom is compatible with Solidity and Vyper, the programming languages used to code smart contracts on Ethereum. That interoperability gives the platform a significant edge, because developers can easily port Ethereum dApps to the Fantom blockchain, which offers faster speeds and cheaper transactions. And those traits have already translated into popularity. Fantom is the fourth-largest DeFi ecosystem, with more than $11 billion invested on the platform.
As dApps and DeFi services on the Fantom blockchain become more popular, demand for the FTM token should rise, pushing its price higher. To that end, this cryptocurrency could eventually surpass Ethereum as the most popular ecosystem of decentralized software and services.
2. Internet Computer
Currently, the internet features an array of software and services, most of them hosted on servers that belong to centralized entities. For instance, tech titans Microsoft and Amazon hold a combined 55% market share in cloud infrastructure services. In other words, two organizations have access to and censorship power over a tremendous amount of personal data and intellectual property. And that type of centralized control can stifle creativity and progress.
Internet Computer aims to solve that problem by decentralizing the internet. Its blockchain connects machines running in independent data centers around the world, creating a global computer platform on which developers can build dApps, DeFi products, websites, and enterprise systems. Put another way, rather than deploying those technologies on centralized servers, they are deployed in a distributed fashion across the internet.
Of particular note, Internet Computer's novel consensus mechanism makes the platform highly scalable. In fact, the blockchain can process 11,500 TPS, while finalizing transactions in just two seconds. Additionally, Internet Computer allows developers to store data at a fraction of the cost charged by competing platforms like Ethereum.
And with the exception of Solana, transactions fees on Internet Computer are far cheaper than any other blockchain.
So why invest? Developers use Internet Computer's native cryptocurrency (the ICP token) to pay for resources consumed by the software and services they deploy on the blockchain. As Internet Computer becomes more popular -- which is entirely plausible given the privacy benefits of a fast, decentralized internet -- demand for the ICP token should rise, making it more valuable over time.
