It’s been a rough month for the Shib Army. Shiba Inu (CCC:SHIB-USD) began the month at $0.000088 but as of this writing, SHIB was trading for 0.0000435.
I’m sure there are many reasons why the altcoin is slipping. Ironically, one of them may be the arrival of the latest of the “pup coins,” Floki Inu (CCC:FLOKI-USD).
However, one news item that has kept Shiba Inu in the news is its ongoing fight to have the altcoin listed on Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD).
The exchange that has soared in popularity with retail investors has, for now, refused to add Shiba Inu to the list of cryptocurrencies it lists. At this point, the Shib Army has been unsuccessful despite gathering over 400,000 signatures.
As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, I’m not a current investor in cryptocurrency so I have no vested interest in the outcome.
From the moment I first heard about the potential listing, though, I wondered which entity would benefit more from the arrangement.
Why Shiba Inu Needs Robinhood
It seems simple enough. Shiba Inu briefly became the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap by building a devoted and passionate community.
The altcoin managed to hold up despite what was termed the “Elon Musk stress test” which simply meant that Musk revealed that he didn’t own any SHIB. The currency also held up despite a 31.04 billion dump by a Shiba Inu whale.
So if the coin could crack the top 10 of cryptos in about one year without being traded on Robinhood, it’s logical to assume a Robinhood listing could serve as rocket fuel for SHIB. Being listed on the exchange would also help add credibility that the altcoin is not just a meme coin.
A different question is why Robinhood may need Shiba Inu. The answer may simply be to keep up with its competition. That was a point that was made in the company’s last earnings report.
The company reported that it saw a decline in crypto activity. HOOD stock subsequently dropped 8%. For its part, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is prominently featuring SHIB on its app.
The thinking, therefore, is that listing SHIB on the platform would not only be a good marketing move, but it would boost trading revenue.
Will SHIB Win This Battle?
Probably yes, but I’m not sure it needs to. I’m also not sure it would want to. This could be a case of being careful what you wish for.
Robinhood already ran afoul of regulators for its role in the GameStop (NYSE:GME) short squeeze. The problem with events like those is they always leave a ripple effect.
In this case, it’s understandable that Robinhood wants greater regulatory clarity before it adds more altcoins. In fact, chief operating officer Christine Brown said Robinhood wants “to make sure that we’re working in assessing everything from a regulatory perspective really well.”
However, Robinhood has already accepted other altcoins including Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE-USD) which saw an increase in trading volume by over 60% since it began trading on the platform.
However, it hasn’t been a completely smooth union. DOGE holders are wagging their fingers (certainly not their tails) at Robinhood because it is delaying access to the latter’s digital wallet.
The Bottom Line
In the end, I believe this can be a win-win situation that is becoming needlessly confrontational. If SHIB is the viable token that the SHIB Army is sure it is then it should continue to do well despite being left off Robinhood.
That, in turn, would be all the evidence that Robinhood needs to add the coin.
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, Chris Markoch 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.
Chris Markoch is a freelance financial copywriter who has been covering the market for seven years. He has been writing for InvestorPlace since 2019.
