Shiba Inu (SHIB) explained: how a meme token moves, and the risks
Shiba Inu started in 2020 as a joke about Dogecoin. Its price has so many zeros that tiny moves look huge, and that's only the first thing to understand about it.
At a glance
| Item | Shiba Inu (SHIB) |
|---|---|
| What it is | A meme token on Ethereum, launched in 2020, with its own add-on network called Shibarium |
| Price step | Set by each exchange, often a tiny fraction of a cent (e.g. $0.00000001) |
| What a move is worth | Depends on size: 10,000,000 SHIB × a $0.000001 move = $10 |
| Busiest hours (ET) | Weekday overlap hours, plus sudden bursts when social media gets excited |
| What moves it most | Crowd mood and social buzz, bitcoin's direction, big holders, exchange listings |
| Trading hours | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
What it is, briefly
SHIB was launched in August 2020 by an anonymous creator known as "Ryoshi". It's a token on the Ethereum network (an ERC-20 token).
The supply started at 1 quadrillion tokens. Half was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In May 2021 he burned (destroyed) about 410 trillion of them and gave a large amount to an India COVID relief fund.
The project later added a trading app (ShibaSwap) and Shibarium, a network built on top of Ethereum. In September 2025, an attacker drained about $2.4 million from the Shibarium bridge (the link between the two networks).
SHIB's price is mostly driven by mood, not by cash flow or use.
Meme tokens are among the riskiest things you can trade. Many have lost most of their value and never come back. If you look at them at all, use only money you can afford to lose entirely, sized from your risk rules.
What moves it
- Crowd mood. Social media hype and fear move SHIB more than any report.
- Bitcoin. When bitcoin falls hard, meme tokens usually fall harder.
- Whales. A few large wallets hold big amounts. Their moves to exchanges are watched.
- Burn talk. News about tokens being burned gets attention, but with a supply this large, small burns change little.
- Security news. Hacks or bugs in the wider Shiba ecosystem have hit sentiment.
When it's busiest
The normal crypto peak is weekday hours when Europe and the US overlap, roughly 8:00 am to noon ET. But meme tokens can explode at any hour if a post goes viral. Weekends are thinner, which makes those bursts sharper.
Its personality
- Extreme swings. Big percentage moves in a day are common, both ways.
- Hype cycles. Fast run-ups are often followed by long, slow drops.
- Tiny prices fool the eye. "It's only a fraction of a cent" says nothing about value. Supply is huge.
- Long tails. Thin, emotional trading leaves long Wicks.
Reading it with our method
If you study SHIB at all, start with bitcoin's daily chart. Meme tokens rarely hold up when bitcoin is falling.
Then mark SHIB's last turning points on the daily chart. Only a candle body closing past one counts. Hype candles with long tails often reverse.
Size from the stop, and size small. Example with made-up numbers: you risk $10 and your stop is $0.000001 away. $10 ÷ $0.000001 = 10,000,000 SHIB. The position size calculator handles the zeros. A math example, not a promise.
Never add Leverage to a meme token. Moves can hit a forced close in minutes.
Common mistakes
- "It only needs to reach one cent." With a quadrillion-unit supply, that idea ignores the math. Price × supply is what matters.
- Buying after a viral post. By then the first move is usually over. See FOMO trading.
- Falling for copycats. Many fake "Shiba" tokens exist. Check the contract address from official sources. See Rug pull.
- No stop. Meme moves can be brutal. Decide your exit before you enter.
Questions
Who created Shiba Inu?
An anonymous person or group using the name "Ryoshi" launched it in August 2020 as a token on Ethereum.
What is the total supply of Shiba Inu?
It started at 1 quadrillion tokens. A large part was burned in 2021 when Vitalik Buterin destroyed about 410 trillion that had been sent to him.
What is Shibarium?
A separate network built on top of Ethereum for the Shiba Inu ecosystem, meant to make transactions cheaper. Its bridge was exploited for about $2.4 million in September 2025.
Why is SHIB so risky?
Its price is driven mostly by mood and hype, it swings hugely, and big holders can move it. Meme tokens can lose most of their value and stay down.
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