As of noon on December 19, the cryptocurrency industry had a total market capitalization of over $3.4 trillion. This puts the value of the digital asset market near the all-time high. The bullish behavior of market participants, especially following the election results, with the belief that a pro-crypto administration is taking over, has made the investment community very excited about what is to come.
While Bitcoin While it rightly gets most of the attention, investors are also driving up the prices of more speculative cryptocurrencies. Take a look at Shiba Inu (SHIB 3.56%). The meme token has soared 41% in the last six weeks alone.
But as of this writing, it is still trading 80% below its October 2021 high. Can the Shiba Inu, which recently traded at around $0.000022, recover to reach the coveted $0.01 mark in 2025?
Useful in theory
Inspired by the success of DogecoinShiba Inu was launched in August 2020 with the aim of offering more features than its dog-inspired counterpart. This is why cryptocurrency was built on top of Ethereum blockchain, making it compatible with a wide range of decentralized applications.
Additionally, the developers have focused on introducing upgrades to the Shiba Inu network. Users could be able to purchase virtual land in a proposed metaverse. And a Layer 2 scaling solution, known as Shibarium, aims to speed up transaction times and reduce costs.
In theory, Shiba Inu’s focus on technical updates should boost its adoption. But that doesn’t seem to be happening, which is very discouraging for its long-term viability.
According to DappRadar, there is only $23 million in total value locked (TVL) (money held in a DeFi Protocolindicating staking and liquidity) on ShibaSwap, a decentralized exchange operating within the broader Shiba Inu ecosystem. This figure is virtually unchanged from 12 months ago.
Cryptocurrencies enjoy first-mover advantage, enormous scale, and network effects. When it comes to blockchains with extensive smart contract capabilities, Shiba Inu is no match for Ethereum, which has $72.2 billion in TVL, an amount almost tripling in the last year. This reality makes it easy to be pessimistic about the Shiba Inu’s ability to introduce real-world utility.
FOMO, greed, hype, speculation
But Shiba Inu deserves some credit for becoming the 14th most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, with a market cap of around $13 billion. To be clear, this is only due to hype and speculation from traders looking to cash out quickly. After Shiba Inu price went absolutely crazy during the 2021 bull run, we could see similar trends playing out again before our eyes. , with fear of missing something (FOMO) and greed determines market behavior.
Don’t bet on it
I strongly believe that the market is expecting a more favorable and accommodating regulatory environment for the crypto industry. But given this crypto’s lack of competitive strengths, it is impossible for me to recommend that any investor buy and hold Shiba Inu for the long term. I also don’t expect the token’s price to increase 113 times to $0.01 in 2025, which would shatter the previous record of $0.00008845.
At $0.01, Shiba Inu’s market value would reach a whopping $5.9 trillion (based on current token counts), making it more valuable than the most dominant tech companies shaping our world. economy today. This should go without saying, but I don’t believe Shiba Inu will ever reach the penny mark.
Ultimately, anyone who buys Shiba Inu is not making a true investment. Instead, this behavior can be considered gambling, because it requires betting on a completely unpredictable outcome. I think it’s best to keep Shiba Inu out of your wallet.
Neil Patel and its clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool posts and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Mad Motley has a disclosure policy.