Any potential investment in Floki Inu (CCC:FLOKI-USD) should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Inspired by Elon Musk’s dog, a Shiba Inu named Floki, and partnered with his brother, Kimbal, Floki Inu is among the strangest cryptos I’ve heard of yet. 

That said, there’s every reason to direct a small stake, say $100, toward it. I’ll admit that the reasoning for doing so is almost purely on the basis of potential returns. From a logical perspective, it simply makes little sense to invest in Floki Inu. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. 

The temptation is too strong because of the precedent set by Shiba Inu (CCC:SHIB-USD) 

A Closer Look at Floki Inu

I recently wrote about the unbelievable success that Shiba Inu has experienced. When I wrote about it Shiba Inu it had experienced gains of something like 26,000,000% year-to-date.

There is a documented case of an investor who put $17 into Shiba Inu in October of 2020. That tiny stake returned $5.8 million when that person cashed out fewer than 200 days later.

Those kinds of returns simply aren’t numbers that we hear about in the investing world. And given that Floki Inu derives its appeal from Shiba Inu, the crypto world is on alert, which is why I suggest that a $100 investment in Floki Inu is a gamble worth taking at this point.

I’m assuming that $100 is an amount of capital that won’t make a difference to its respective owner, of course. 

That said, Floki Inu still hasn’t experienced anything close to the success that Shiba Inu has. Further, that $100 almost certainly cannot return profits as SHIB has.

Comparison With SHIB 

Year-to-date returns indicate a vastly different narrative for the two coins. Floki Inu has only traded since early July. In that time it has increased in value by 1,207%.

Contrast that with Shiba Inu’s performance this year, up 20,000,00+% and the difference is obvious. Shiba Inu is the #20 ranked cryptocurrency on the basis of market capitalization, Floki Inu #2769. 

Let’s make a wild assumption here. Let’s assume Floki Inu takes off and somehow rises to the same level that Shiba Inu has. What would that mean?

Shiba Inu has a market capitalization of $10.9 billion, and Floki Inu has a market cap of $654 million. 

Given that, SHIB is approximately 16.5X more valuable than FLOKI. That means FLOKI would have to multiply in price by a factor of 16.5 for it to be as valuable as Shiba Inu. 

Not SHIB, Though

While that’s interesting, it’s also sobering for those hoping that FLOKI can provide SHIB type returns on a small investment. 

Even in a dream scenario in which Floki Inu hits the same market cap as Shiba Inu there will only be an increase of 16.5X the capital invested. 

Is that phenomenal? Yes. But probably not attractive enough. My intuition is that FLOKI fans are expecting SHIB returns but they can’t happen in reality. 

If FLOKI takes off (and there’s no reason to believe it will) then my guess is it’s something like a ten-bagger investment in the best of scenarios. It could just as easily drop to zero. 

I don’t know, and neither does anyone else. What I hope readers realize is that FLOKI isn’t SHIB. It can’t be that kind of lottery ticket based on market realities. 

What to Do

I began by mentioning that FLOKI could be an interesting investment for those willing to lose a small stake. I suggested $100. The rosy scenario is that $100 becomes something like $1600. 

That’s what market cap says is possible in a best-case scenario. That’s not what FLOKI fans probably want to hear, but that’s what FLOKI is. 

For those looking for Shiba Inu returns, I’d suggest they continue their search elsewhere.

InvestorPlace does not regularly publish commentary about cryptocurrencies that have a market capitalization less than $100 million or trade with volume less than $100,000 each day. That’s because these “penny cryptos” are frequently the playground for scam artists and market manipulators. When we do publish commentary on a low-volume crypto that may be affected by our commentary, we ask that InvestorPlace.com’s writers disclose this fact and warn readers of the risks.

 Read More: How to Avoid Popular Cryptocurrency Scams

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks. Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing.