What is Shiba Inu (SHIB) coin?

Shiba Inu, or SHIB, is a dog-themed meme coin launched in August 2020 by an anonymous developer known as Ryoshi. It is a token on the Ethereum blockchain rather than a coin with its own network. Ryoshi called it an experiment in decentralized community building, and its fan base calls itself the "SHIB Army."

Where did Shiba Inu coin come from?

SHIB started with a supply of 1 quadrillion tokens. Half was locked in Uniswap, a decentralized exchange, and half was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In May 2021, Buterin burned, or permanently destroyed, 90% of the remaining SHIB in his wallet and said the rest would go to charity.

Ryoshi stepped away from the project in May 2022, leaving it to its community and developers. A lead developer known as Shytoshi Kusama has since driven major initiatives, including Shibarium.

What is Shiba Inu coin used for?

SHIB began as a meme token inspired by a lighthearted joke, Dogecoin. Supporters have since built an ecosystem around it:

• ShibaSwap, a decentralized exchange for swapping tokens and providing liquidity.
• BONE, a governance token used to vote on proposals and to pay fees on Shibarium.
• LEASH, a token with a very small supply tied to rewards and NFT features.

Merchant use is limited. BitPay said Dogecoin accounted for nearly 7% of the crypto payments it processed, compared with less than 1% for SHIB.

What is Shibarium?

Shibarium is a layer-2 network that launched in August 2023. It processes transactions away from Ethereum's main chain to make them faster and cheaper, using proof of stake. A portion of its fees is used to burn SHIB.

Shibarium has also faced security problems. In September 2025, an attacker borrowed a large amount of BONE, took control of 10 of the 12 validator keys and drained about $2.3 million in ETH and SHIB from its bridge to Ethereum, according to Forklog. The team paused staking and moved the remaining funds to more secure storage.

Shiba Inu vs Dogecoin: what is the difference?

Both are dog-themed meme coins, and SHIB was openly modeled on Dogecoin. The differences are mostly technical:

• Network. Dogecoin, launched in 2013, has its own blockchain secured by mining. SHIB is an ERC-20 token that relies on Ethereum.
• Supply. Dogecoin has no supply limit. SHIB is capped at 1 quadrillion tokens, and burns have reduced the total.
• Ecosystem. Dogecoin focuses mainly on payments, while SHIB has added an exchange, extra tokens and its own layer-2.

Meme coins carry particular risks. Their value depends largely on attention and social media sentiment rather than revenue or use, so prices can swing sharply and holders can lose most of what they put in.

Crypto prices are volatile and a meme token like SHIB can lose most of its value.