Shiba Inu can bite its owners

The sometimes-aggressive Japanese breed rose steadily from 67th most popular in 2007 to 43rd last year (REUTERS)
The sometimes-aggressive Japanese breed rose steadily from 67th most popular in 2007 to 43rd last year (REUTERS)

Summary

Dog breed behind Dogecoin and copycats holds clues for what could happen to cryptocurrencies

Much popular. Such irrational.

On Friday, the value of the Shiba Inu coin overtook that of Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency it was designed to “kill." Sporting the ninth and 10th highest crypto market capitalizations, respectively, they are worth $80 billion combined, according to CoinMarketCap.com. There is no ultimate limit of the number of Dogecoins minted, and the cap for Shibu Inus is set at one quadrillion coins. With petitioners trying to get brokerage firm Robinhood to allow trading of the upstart coin, launched only last year via a “woofpaper," the sky seems to be the limit.

But is it? Consider the value of something else that can multiply to meet demand: actual shiba inus. The sometimes-aggressive Japanese breed rose steadily from 67th most popular in 2007 to 43rd last year, according to the American Kennel Club. Then interest really took off, according to Marcus Keim, a breeder in Ohio. He says his competitors don’t keep up with the news the way he does so they didn’t know the reason behind the recent surge in customers, but they responded anyway and now supply has risen, bringing prices back down.

Not only can many more coins be created out of thin air. So can brand new cryptocurrencies inspired by the breed. CoinMarketCap also lists Kiba Inu, Jpaw Inu, Metti Inu and Ghostface Shiba, for example. Good luck guessing which one will be the next pick of the litter.

 

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