The Shiba Inu (SHIB +5.96%) cryptocurrency isn't writing headlines anymore, but many investors still pin their hopes on this meme coin for the next sectorwide bull run. It's still among the 20 largest crypto names measured by market cap, with robust daily trading volume.
Unfortunately, I don't see much real-world developer interest in the surprisingly capable Shiba Inu ecosystem these days.
Crypto-based app activity is on the rise, with the number of veteran developers contributing code to the GitHub code gallery nearly doubling over the last three years, according to Electric Capital's latest developer report. But smart contracts innovator Ethereum (ETH +11.10%) utterly dominates the developer interest in every category, with Bitcoin (BTC +3.66%) in a distant runner-up spot and everyone else trailing far behind.
This report never even mentioned Shiba Inu. There's simply nothing going on behind that door.
On the other hand, many cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks are hard at work building the Web3 future. From personal banking to content publishing, a plethora of industries are ripe for disruption -- and one token should skyrocket as the online world moves through this sea change.
CRYPTO: DOT
Key Data Points
Polkadot looks mighty tasty
Electric Capital ran across a lot of Polkadot (DOT +13.53%) projects. The official blockchain ecosystem of the Web3 Foundation is one of the most active developer communities not named Ethereum, and also one of the fastest-growing networks. Polkadot's army of full-time developers more than tripled in three years, making it the largest app-writing platform after Ethereum and Bitcoin.
In other words, consumers and investors will soon see a tsunami of Polkadot-based Web3 apps on their phones, computers, and other online devices. The Polkadot connection may not always be clear or heavily promoted, but the network helps programmers make the most out of many different crypto systems. It'll be the silent force that holds the Web3 revolution together at the seams.
...but the token is a bargain
Yet, crypto investors have largely shrugged off Polkadot's promising app-building activity and the DOT token has traded sideways over the last year. Ethereum gained 80% over the same period while Bitcoin landed a 110% jump:
Polkadot Price data by YCharts
The lack of investor excitement doesn't take anything away from Polkadot's real-world usage, though. And that's how the token's value is created. You know what they say about stocks being voting machines in the short term and weighing machines in the long run, right? The same idea holds true for cryptocurrencies, and Polkadot is stacking up a ton of weight on those weighing-machine scales as we speak.
I can't wait to see what the price chart will do when the first few killer apps open the floodgates for the Web3 era.
It's time to move on from playful pups to Web3 pioneers
Shiba Inu separates itself from other meme coins with a robust technical platform and a community-driven system for developing the blockchain network itself. But the dog-themed marketing that helped it attract the spotlight early on appears to have become a liability more recently. It's just hard to take Shiba Inu seriously, since the value of each digital coin is so vanishingly small. 1 million Shiba Inu coins add up to $10 at today's prices, and it's just hard to keep track of the zeros you should expect after the decimal point.
Polkadot is just on a different level when it comes to creating real long-term value. It runs an even more sophisticated blockchain network, supported by several helper networks and passing information between different blockchain systems. Its market cap is about twice the size of Shiba Inu's these days, and I expect it to rise through the ranks as the Web3 conversion gains momentum.
So the allure of meme coins like Shiba Inu may capture the public's imagination, but savvy investors should look beyond the headlines. Polkadot's technical prowess and its central role in the burgeoning Web3 ecosystem should make it a transformative investment. As the digital world edges closer to a Web3 reality, step by encrypted step, Polkadot's innovative infrastructure and powerful interoperability powers should lead to substantial growth.
