As far as popular meme tokens go, Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD) is probably number one. Investors in the SHIB crypto have seen life-changing returns over the past year. Accordingly, this speculative token is one that continues to generate interest, despite being down materially from its peak.
Much of this recent decline in Shiba Inu can be related to macro forces. Investors appear to have taken an overly bearish view of risky assets in this new economic environment. The yield curve just inverted, mind you. Inflation is soaring, and interest rates are rising. Indeed, this sort of environment is one that suggests cheap money flowing into speculative assets may not flow as easily as it once did.
That said, there are other reasons why the SHIB crypto has been down big in recent months. Bears may point out that there’s really not a lot of utility created with Shiba Inu’s network. Yes, the community supporting Shiba Inu is massive and strong. However, there’s not much under the hood, for those willing to look.
Today, there’s an announcement that may change this thesis. Let’s dive into what’s driving Shiba Inu higher today.
What Should Investors Watch With the SHIB Crypto?
Today, reports say that blockchain protocol Komodo has “launched a Shiba Inu-centric decentralized exchange that allows users to trade Shiba Inu’s SHIB tokens for cryptos issued on different blockchains.”
This decentralized exchange (DEX), already named ShibaDEX, would be a cross-chain exchange running on AtomicDEX. Essentially, this allows for Shiba Inu tokens to be traded for other digital assets, something other decentralized exchanges don’t allow for.
The developer team behind Shiba Inu has reportedly been working on such a DEX for some time. However, this announcement does bring the utility argument back to life for this meme token. Should investor interest in this exchange surge, total value locked and other metrics may be used to value Shiba Inu’s network. This can be useful for fundamental investors in the space.
Overall, I remain skeptical with respect to Shiba Inu’s underlying value. That said, there are reasons why some are bullish right now. Therefore, this is certainly one I’m going to keep on the radar for now.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald 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.
