Launched in August 2020 by an anonymous person known as Ryoshi, Shiba Inu is the first token that is 100% community-operated and aims to create a decentralised standard.
Similar to the situation with Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto, we have no idea of the real identity of the creator. All we know is that Ryoshi could be a group of people, not just one individual.
The Shiba Inu community
Starting from scratch, the Shiba Inu community, known as the Shib Army, is trying to find out if decentralisation can really work when a coin has no centralised team, no funding and no direct leadership. According to Woofpaper of the token, cryptocurrencies that cannot maintain their own independence face a fragile existence.
The founders of Shiba Inu
Few details about the person behind Shiba Inu are known outside of his Twitter and Medium accounts. In a Medium post in May 2021, Ryoshi claims, "I am nobody. I am not important. Efforts to unmask my 'identity', even if successful, would have a disheartening result. I'm just an insignificant guy pushing a keyboard and I'm replaceable. I am Ryoshi."
"Ryoshi's spirit of remaining anonymous and not interfering in Shib's direction makes their myth all the more mystical and fascinating. They build from scratch, never pay for listings, and revolutionize the "meme" token by growing exponentially."
SHIB is the token of Shiba Inu
The Shiba Inu coin is a decentralised, community-building cryptocurrency that is an "experiment" developed within the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
The SHIB coin is an ERC-20 token powered by Ethereum. Because it runs on the Ethereum network, Shiba is able to use smart contracts to create decentralised financial products.
Shiba Inu is also looking to boost the market for non-exchangeable tokens through its artist incubator, while demonstrating the benefits of spontaneous decentralised community building through its three flagship tools SHIB, LEASH and BONE. The incubator will allow artists to use the Ethereum network to auction non-exchangeable tokens through smart contracts, creating an NFT market that eliminates the need for third parties.
On Shiba Inu's own decentralised exchange, ShibaSwap, users can stake their coins in exchange for BONES. BONES, which is being developed as a future tool to take DeFi's power to a higher level. The only way to mine BONES is to stake SHIB coins on the ShibaSwap platform. Those who stake SHIB will receive interest. The third flagship tool of ShibaSwap is LEASH, which has a total supply of only 100 000 coins. It is available on Uniswap.
The Shiba Inu ecosystem
The Shiba ecosystem is a strange and wonderful place where people can gather to discuss their love for Shib. The community includes a diverse range of people, from those who simply love the Japanese hunting dog breed Shiba Inu to those who have dedicated their lives to demonstrating the Shiba spirit. Here people can meet to share information, learn from each other and support each other in their endeavours.
The Shiba ecosystem is an open-source ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps), protocols and platforms that enable the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApp) on the Ethereum blockchain. The Shiba Inu ecosystem is also home to the Shiba Inu Token (SHIB). The SHIB token was also created as a parody of the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE).
In essence, the Shiba Inu ecosystem is a community of people and organisations working together to create value for the Shiba Inu network. The ecosystem includes developers, investors, businesses and users. Developers create applications and services that enable users to interact with the network. Investors provide funding to companies and developers to create applications and services.
The uniqueness of Shiba Inu
The Dogecoin killer is unique because the project is led by the Shiba Inu community, who truly believe in a decentralised system that removes control by central authorities. This is backed up by Woofpaper, which argues that "collective decentralisation" can achieve much better results than a centralised team could.
Shiba Inu started as an experiment in decentralised community building, starting from scratch and with zero. Without funding, a centralised team and direct leadership, Shiba is trying to see if decentralisation can work in a fully community-led way.
The value of Shiba Inu
SHIB is Shiba Inu's token, and following the launch, Ryoshi sent 50% of his token holdings to Ethereum's founder, Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. The remaining half was blocked for liquidity on Uniswap, a decentralised financial platform. Remarkably, Buterin burned 90% of the SHIB tokens he owned, worth roughly $6.7 billion at the time, and sent the remaining 10% to a COVID-19 relief fund in India.
Vitalik Buterin walking with other ETH developers in Osaka.
By using Ethereum's native asset, Ether, Shiba Inu has created the perfect platform for ShibaSwap, where users can earn rewards through buying, HODL, selling and trading, outperforming other staking platforms. Furthermore, the current using the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, transactions have become cheaper and faster.
Despite its fickle beginnings, Shiba Inu has grown into a formidable player in the cryptocurrency arena, currently ranking 19th in terms of market capitalisation, worth around $5.32 billion.
The usefulness of Shiba Inu
Although Shiba Inu started out as a meme, its uses have now extended beyond internet humour. The token's usefulness is illustrated by its integration into a variety of industries and applications. Merchants and online platforms are increasingly adopting SHIB as a payment method, demonstrating its real-world utility.
Conclusion
Shiba Inu its journey from meme status to a legitimate and versatile digital tool is a fascinating exploration of the evolving cryptographic landscape. The utility of the token, its decentralised memeonomy, community-driven development and its integration into various industries show that it can be more than just a passing trend.
100% community-driven, Shiba Inu is finding out how successful a project can be without a centralised team at its heart - and this is just the beginning.
