How to Invest In Shiba Inu (And Is It Too Late)?

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has had an unprecedented rise in the last 15 months, in what may be called "the fastest moon trip" in crypto.

According to CoinGecko, it has become the 11th most valuable currency in the world (at least for a brief period of time).

Shiba Inu, which trades as SHIB, has become the zealous competitor of Dogecoin, leading to it being nicknamed the "Dogecoin Killer" by its anonymous creators. 

To date, this alt-coin has lived up to that billing, and there are speculations that it might even usurp Dogecoin's position as the most valuable meme-based token.

However, for most prospective investors feeling tempted to join the latest "moon train," investment experts are sounding out notes of warnings calling Shiba Inu an expired investment opportunity. 

In their view, "whatever worthwhile profits an investment in Shiba coin may give, early investors have already milked it out."

Nevertheless, you are most likely curious to know our perspective on that conclusion. So, as you read, you will find our answers in the latter section of this article.

Let's quickly go over what Shiba Inu is and how it is different from other coins in the market.

What Is Shiba Inu (SHIB)?

Shiba Inu is an ERC-20 altcoin. The coin was created on the Ethereum blockchain by Ryoshi, an anonymous individual or group, who nicknamed it the "Dogecoin Killer."

The Shiba Inu is the Japanese breed of dog depicted on the Dogecoin symbol.

Over time, it expanded into an ecosystem of three coins: SHIB, BONE & LEASH; all three names were intended to depict some peculiar facts about dogs. 

The creators have also designed a decentralized exchange platform: ShibaSwap, as a place where users can "dig, bury, fetch and swap coins." 

The ShibaSwap allegedly will be used to assign various use cases to the SHIB coin, thereby sustaining and boosting its value.

The Difference Between Shiba Inu and Dogecoin

Dogecoin was built as a parody. It was a joke created to mock the large volume of hysterical crypto tokens. It reached its first major peak during the bull run of 2017. And it has since seen strong volume in 2021.

The developers used Litecoin's source code to create the tokens rather than build the coin from ground zero. 

Despite being fast and cheap to transfer, the DOGE coin remained undervalued until this year (2021), when Elon Musk "masterminded" the most legendary crypto shilling campaign ever.

Using his Twitter account, the billionaire tech investor helped to build sufficient hype around Dogecoin's meme culture. 

Within a few weeks/months, the crypto community went haywire, resulting in a gold rush as investors trickled in massively to bag some DOGE tokens. 

However, unlike Dogecoin, Shiba Inu was created and launched on the Ethereum blockchain, and therefore, relies on the Ethereum Virtual Machine for its functionalities.

While both coins have a shared history of being dog-based, Shiba Inu offers a more unique-value proposition based on its soon-to-be-launched ShibaSwap platform, a decentralized exchange. 

ShibaSwap will be the SHIB-based autonomous DEX platform providing services such as token swaps, staking, and more.

However, until that launches, there is basically no use-case for SHIB.

How to Invest in Shiba Inu?

To rise with the tide, many people ask, "how do I invest in SHIB coins?".

The answer is simple. Like many other tokens, Shiba Inu is available on platforms like eToro, Crypto.com, and even Binance. 

It's also available on Trust Wallet, where you can buy it through UniSwap. There you can exchange Ethereum for SHIB. 

There are four easy steps to investing in Shiba coins. These steps are basic and general to all crypto trading platforms.

Choose a Platform

The first step is choosing your desired platform. Most people go for eToro because of its simplicity, while a great majority prefer Binance, the biggest crypto exchange. Note, both of these platforms work for US and international users.

However, on each of the above-stated centralized exchanges, you will be required to sign up using your personal information and get KYC verified. 

But admittedly, not everyone feels comfortable submitting their data to a third-party platform. If you are that kind, the Uniswap decentralized exchange maybe your best option.

Related: Find The Best Cryptocurrency Exchange For Your Needs

Fund Your Account

On a centralized exchange, you will need to sign up to create an account. After that, you will need to deposit some funds. That could be BTC, BNB, ETH, or the dollar-pegged USDT. 

However, it's not necessary to own some crypto before investing in a crypto token. On some exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, you can use your Debit/Credit card. 

It's interesting to note that if you choose Coinbase, you will gift $5 worth of Bitcoin as a bonus for depositing $100. 

Moreover, the Coinbase app is free with over 100 actively traded crypto tokens. So if you ever want to diversify, you don't have to look elsewhere.

Decide How Much Money You Want to Spend

It would be best if you decided how much of your net worth you want to bet with. 

Shiba Inu is no different from other crypto tokens out there. That is, at any point in time, their value is purely driven by speculation, which means that crypto trading comes with an huge degree of risk and volatility.

Overnight, you can have your money doubled or completely sunk to near-zero. Hence, it's important to tread with caution. And many alt-coins have had this happen lately - drop straight to $0 overnight.

So be warned.

Swap Your Crypto/Fiat for SHIB

With your account/wallet now funded, go to the exchange of your choice. 

On a centralized exchange, your funds will be displayed on your profile's dashboard. You need to switch to the market interface, search for SHIB and buy. 

On a decentralized exchange like Uniswap, no login process is required. First, connect your wallet, and go to the tokens swapping interface. 

Set the custom amount (in ETH) to indicate how much SHIB you intend to buy. Click the swap button, and that's all.

Is It Too Late to Invest In Shiba Inu?

After recording huge gains in a relatively short time, it is safe to say the current price of the SHIB coin looks shaky at the moment ($0.00007 as of the time of this writing).

However, it doesn't appear the hype will go away anytime soon.

SHIB is still expected to undergo significant improvements. Therefore, some experts say the price might peak further in the next few years above the current valuation.

However, crypto investments are generally not predictable, so don't be too eager on this one. It could be fun to trade in and out of for a bit, but I would be shocked if the price continued to skyrocket.