Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Feb. 17, 2022, to correct the name of the $LEASH tokens.
I have not once recommended Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD) in three past articles. Unfortunately for Shiba Inu, this article follows the pattern.
I previously argued that this meme coin has no real utility; it is a pointless meme crypto brand where sentiment defies logic, with a plethora of cognitive biases that investors ignore.
Personally, I believe SHIB has a value of zero dollars and zero cents. Regardless of my own personal feelings, Shiba Inu is currently ranked the 14th largest crypto, according to CoinMarketCap, with a price tag of $0.00002899 and a market cap of $16 billion.
In this article, I’ll focus on the Whitepaper, named WoofPaper v2, to analyze useful insights.
Shiba Inu claims it’s answered the question of what would happen if a cryptocurrency project was 100% community run. I have to ask though, what does that accomplish? Would it be writing history? Developing new innovations? Working together in harmony brings true power for sure, but for what specific reasons?
Woofpaper v2 Is More Bark Than Bite
The core founding principles of SHIB, as outlined by its team and community are as follows:
- Started from zero, with zero to make something out of nothing. This former-nothing now has a market cap of $16 billion.
- There was a freshness in the developer’s team, designers, moderators and marketers. This is good but how does it add value to the SHIB token itself?
- There is a love for Shiba Inu dogs
My main concern when it comes to Shiba Inu is finding utility the coin will offer long term. I expected the whitepaper would address some of these concerns. A deeper analysis certainly didn’t meet those expectations.
Highlights of the paper are as follows: Shiba Inu is an ERC-20 token, meaning it’s built on the Ethereum (ETH-USD) blockchain. The reason for this is SHIB wants to both apply changes and evolve as time goes on.
Second, there is reference to Vitalik Buterin donating $1 billion to the India Covid Relief Fund back in 2021. This is a great act worth commending, but it doesn’t add value to SHIB.
WoofPaper v2 also mentions donating to the Shiba Inu Rescue Association, a non-profit organization that helps save real Shiba Inu dogs.
They also created the Shiba Incubator, a concept that allows artists and contributors to build upon the Shiba Inu project. They have a vision to build the best decentralized ecosystem (DECO) on the planet with three tokens, $SHIB, $LEASH and $BONE.
Then we get to the tokenomics. Shiba Inu’s circulating supply is 589.7 trillion at time of writing. Many SHIB believers hope the coin could one day become a “DOGECOIN Killer” if it ever consistently passes its memecoin progenitor. There is a lot of optimism expressed about the widespread adoption of SHIB tokens due to a large number of holders, more than half-million, and being listed on more than 40 exchanges.
Users can BURY (stake) Shiba Inu Tokens for Bone returns, but there is a catch. 67% of the returns will be time-locked for six months.
On top of this, there’s also information on the new $LEASH tokens. I think the creators behind Shiba Inu realized the original amount of 1 quadrillion issuable Shiba Inu tokens was a big mistake, which is why they decided to limit the number of $LEASH tokens to only 107,647 tokens. The writers of the whitepaper expect that $LEASH tokens will witness a meteoric rise. But again, on what basis?
Shiba Inu Conclusion
ShibaSwap is expected according to the whitepaper to enhance the widespread adoption of DeFi. The focus is on community-driven results.
So, what value does Shiba Inu really have? I read a lot of nonsense marketing lines and wishful thinking. Where is the real utility?
I maintain my previous thesis, Shiba Inu is a pointless meme crypto brand, a worthless token. Beware of its volatility and its cheap price. It is too expensive and a joke of a financial asset.
On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA 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.
Stavros Georgiadis is a CFA charter holder, an Equity Research Analyst, and an Economist. He focuses on U.S. stocks and has his own stock market blog at thestockmarketontheinternet.com/. He has written in the past various articles for other publications and can be reached on Twitter and on LinkedIn.
