Shiba Inu (SHIB 0.73%) wowed investors last year with its mind-boggling performance. This popular meme token soared 45,000,000%. Since then, though, momentum has slowed. The crypto player has slipped 24% so far this year. And many doubt Shiba Inu can even come close to repeating last year's performance.
But Shiba Inu fans got some pretty big news recently. Robinhood Markets listed Shiba Inu on its platform. That means you can now buy or sell Shiba Inu on Robinhood. Investors had been hoping for this for quite some time. Some had even started a petition for it on Change.org. More than half a million Shiba Inu fans signed it. So, could the Robinhood listing be Shiba Inu's ticket to another round of enormous gains? Let's find out.
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Why is this a big deal?
First, we might ask: Why is it such a big deal to be listed on Robinhood? Robinhood is primarily known as a place to buy and sell stocks. Some users may not necessarily set up an account on a separate trading platform to invest in cryptocurrency. But if a particular crypto is right there on Robinhood, these users may give that crypto a try. Basically, it makes it easier for a stock market investor who isn't involved in crypto trading to get in on it.
How many investors are we talking about? A lot. Robinhood's monthly active users increased 48% year over year to 17.3 million this past December.
This sounds great. And it surely will open up the door to a broader range of investors. It may even offer Shiba Inu a boost. Shiba Inu climbed more than 25% on April 12 following the news. Shiba Inu also has a few other positive elements happening this year.
The crypto has entered the metaverse. And it's working on a scaling solution -- Shibarium -- that will reduce the cost of transactions. Right now, as a token operating on Ethereum, Shiba Inu is subject to the costs and congestion that have been an issue on that blockchain. Shiba Inu is also set to go through coin burnings to reduce the supply of the token. The idea is that with a lower supply, the token's value could rise more easily.
But here's the problem
All these things are positive for Shiba Inu. And actually make it a better Shiba Inu than the one investors bet on last year. But I don't think the Robinhood listing will unlock huge long-term gains for this crypto player. Here's why. That and the other elements I've mentioned don't make Shiba Inu stand out from its peers. At this point, Shiba Inu doesn't have the capabilities to reshape the way business is done -- it's not a platform for decentralized applications (dApps). It's operating in a sea of other metaverse players -- so competition is high. And as for payments, Shiba Inu doesn't offer users advantages over other cryptocurrencies.
Shiba Inu surely is a player to watch. Its fans -- the Shib Army -- are supportive. And it's clearly taking steps to improve. But it's way too early to bet on any potential long-term success of this popular token.
