Meme-based coins have been the talk of the town in the cryptocurrency world for the past couple of weeks. In early October, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted a picture of his new pet dog, a Shiba Inu breed. Since then, there has been a constant buzz around meme tokens.
Dogecoin is the most well-known meme cryptocurrency, but other cryptos have recently emerged as well. Two of such currencies are Shiba Inu and Akita Inu.
Both tokens are named after Japanese dog breeds, but the similarities don’t end there. In this article, we’ll discuss both these coins, their similarities and differences, and which one is the better option in the current climate. But first, let’s discuss these two separately.
What is Shiba Inu?
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an Ethereum-based coin that has witnessed a surge in popularity this year. This rise can be attributed to rampant speculation on its price by investors and strong community engagement. The token was created on 1st August 2020 by an anonymous founder known as “Ryoshi”.
During the token’s launch, one quadrillion SHIB tokens were minted. Half of its supply was locked in Uniswap SHIB/ETH liquidity pool. This pool is basically a decentralized exchange where investors trade pairs of assets from liquidity pools. The remaining 50% of the tokens were donated to Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum. Buterin ended up burning the majority of them by sending them to a dead crypto wallet address. The rest were donated to an Indian Covid-19 relief fund and other charities.
The Shiba Inu universe consists of a decentralized exchange called Shibaswap and two other tokens called ‘LEASH’ and ‘BONE’. The community is also ever-present in a rescue campaign for Shiba Inu dogs.
The current price of SHIB is $0.00005643, with a 24-hour trading volume of $19.0B. Its market capitalization stands at $22.5B.
What is Akita Inu?
Inspired heavily by Dogecoin, Akita Inu (AKITA) was launched on 1st February this year. It is a decentralized meme currency built on the Ethereum network using the ERC-20 protocol. It has recently set the crypto world abuzz with its lightning-fast development in association with the Polarfox community.
A couple of months into its launch, Akita Inu was added on numerous exchanges, from MXC and HotBot to Poloniex. The token is part of the AKITA community, which is backed by the AKITA network. The network and its various affiliations, such as social media platforms and webspace, are being fully funded by the AKITA.
AKITA prides itself on being a decentralized, community-driven experiment with no founders or team tokens. The community aims to move forward through collective agreement over decisions regarding its future.
Within three months of the token’s launch, over 15,000 new investors held it, and another 20,000 joined the AKITA project’s Telegram channel.
Akita Inu’s current price is $0.00000498 with a 24-hour trading volume of $19.5B.
What Are the Differences and Similarities Between Shiba Inu and Akita Inu?
Shiba Inu was launched in August 2020 while Akita Inu came into being six months later in February 2021. Shiba Inu was launched by an anonymous founder, whereas Akita Inu was established through the AKITA network, a community with no formal founder.
Other than these, there is not much difference between the two. Some of the similarities between the two coins are:
- Both are dog-based meme coins.
- Both of them have witnessed tremendously volatile spikes over the past couple of months.
- Dogecoin has inspired both.
- Both have strong community links.
- Both are based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Which is the Better Option?
To be perfectly honest, both options are speculative investments at this point. The primary reason that people are buying them is that they expect their prices to explode sooner rather than later. That is an understandable sentiment, but you should always be mindful when making such investments.
If you want to invest in a coin based on momentum, Akita Inu is the better option. Because it’s relatively newer, it has built up greater momentum and shows a good enough growth potential.
If you want a safer option, go with Shiba Inu. Given that it has greater market experience than its counterpart, SHIB could possibly offer you a bigger safety net.
Both Shiba Inu and Akita Inu are undoubtedly making waves in the cryptocurrency world right now. Having taken inspiration from the original meme currency, Dogecoin, both of these tokens have been steadily growing in popularity.
Where Can You Buy Shiba Inu and Akita Inu?
You’re probably not going to find these meme coins on any centralized exchange. Currently, they are too obscure to be listed even on Binance, one of the top altcoin exchanges on the globe.
You should go for decentralized exchanges, like UniSwap, as they are the best place for investors seeking to buy with Shiba or Akita Inu at this point. Keep in mind that since both are Ethereum-based altcoins, you’ll need an ERC-20 compatible digital wallet to store them.
As mentioned earlier, investing in either of these currencies is a risky move due to their young lifespan and highly volatile nature. Most people who are investing in them right now are doing so due to a fear of missing out. Having said that, both coins have pretty strong communities linked to them. If you really want to invest in these meme-based coins, make sure you conduct your proper research beforehand!
Let us know on Hackernoon Community what you like or don't like about Shiba Inu and Akita Inu!
Disclaimer: The opinions in this article belong to the author alone, and nothing here constitutes professional investment advice. Please do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions.
References:
https://apnews.com/article/business-technology-81b7d718e7f495aed57937ca87aa34ea
https://hackernoon.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-staking-with-cardano-o13m33dg