Dogecoin (DOGE) vs Shiba Inu (SHIB): Which Is A Better Investment Now?

Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) are meme coins that exhibited explosive price action in 2021. These tokens have been relatively dormant until February 2024 — resurrecting with strength. DOGE has gained credibility with the backing of big names like Elon Musk and a longer track record, making it less volatile than other meme coins. SHIB is considered riskier but could offer higher returns with its developing ecosystem.

As the crypto market continues its wild ride, meme coins garner more attention by the day. The clash between SHIB and DOGE emerges as a pivotal point of debate: SHIB vs DOGE — which reigns superior?

Let’s find out by discussing what these tokens stand for and their similarities and differences.

What Is Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu (SHIB) debuted in August 2020 and is the second most popular meme coin by market cap and Dogecoin’s main contender. SHIB is built on Ethereum and can work with decentralized applications (dApps) via smart contracts. Ryoshi, the founder of SHIB, and Sytoshi Kusama (the lead developer of SHIB), launched the token after the Shiba Inu dog breed, which is the face of Dogecoin. Both Kusama and Ryoshi have remained anonymous to date. SHIB currently sits around a $15 billion market cap, down substantially from its all-time-high market cap of nearly $40 billion. SHIB has been coined as a “Dogecoin killer” by much of the crypto community. The ShibArmy, one of the strongest crypto communities, has shown relentless effort in building utility around this token. SHIB’s ecosystem includes a decentralized exchange (DEX) called ShibaSwap and additional plans Shibarium — a layer-2 solution that addresses the scalability and efficiency of transactions. SHIB is turning heads with its pledge toward burning token supply, as this can be seen as beneficial to price action. 

What Is Dogecoin?

The first meme coin ever created — Dogecoin — launched back in 2013. Created by Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer, two software developers who met online. Dogecoin was created primarily as a joke, combining two trends: the rising popularity of Bitcoin (BTC) and the “Doge” meme. With its strong community-driven movement backed by internet culture, this token quickly became nothing short of a legitimate project. 

Unlike most cryptocurrencies with a fixed supply, DOGE is an inflationary asset, meaning its supply increases annually. DOGE operates on its own blockchain, using a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Elon Musk began accepting DOGE as a payment method for Teslas and has hinted at possible integration of DOGE within the X platform. However, the use case for DOGE as a digital asset remains minimal. 

SHIB vs. DOGE: Price History and Market Cap

SHIB and DOGE both have exhibited similar parabolic price action with immense volatility. DOGE rallied from late 2020 to the middle of 2021. SHIB followed afterward, with its explosion in September 2021.

DOGE reached its all-time high price of $0.73 in May 2021 with its market cap briefly touching 75 billion dollars. However, DOGE’s sell-off was as quick as its rally, plummeting down to $0.17 within the same month of May. Alternatively, SHIB peaked at $0.000088 in late October 2021, a 17x increase from less than two months prior. During this all-time high for SHIB, its market cap was nearly 40 billion dollars, which sunk to $11 billion by February 2022.

Throughout the rest of 2022 until early 2024, SHIB and DOGE have experienced minimal changes in price action. DOGE continued to dominate the bear market, maintaining a market cap of approximately twice that of SHIB.

With the recent positive sentiment in the crypto market, DOGE reached $0.23 in February 2024 — the highest DOGE has seen since 2021. SHIB followed closely once again, reaching $0.000045, only 50 percent lower than its all-time highs. 

Since DOGE’s most recent run-up in February 2024, it has ranged between an 18 and 31 billion dollar market cap. Contrarily, SHIB has been ranging between a 12 and 20 billion dollar market cap during that same time frame. Some analysts say SHIB is now closer than ever to overtaking DOGE.

SHIB vs. DOGE: Key Differences

• Tokenomics: DOGE’s supply increases by a set rate of five billion tokens annually, making it less and less scarce over time. SHIB has committed to burning tokens to reduce supply, increasing its scarcity over time.

• Blockchain Technology: DOGE operates on its own PoW blockchain using technology derived from Litecoin (LTC). Mining DOGE is more accessible than mining Bitcoin by using the Scrypt algorithm. SHIB is built on Ethereum, leveraging its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. SHIB can integrate into various decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms by using Ethereum smart contracts. 

• Ecosystem and Use Case: DOGE is limited to basic transaction capabilities and is primarily used as a speculative investment. SHIB is part of a larger ecosystem encompassing DeFi, NFTs, and gaming, but the SHIB token still has little utility beyond speculative investing. 

SHIB vs. DOGE: Similarities

• Meme Origin: SHIB and DOGE are meme tokens that succeeded with minimal utility. Both tokens use the same mascot — the Shiba Inu dog breed. SHIB was created several years after DOGE as an Ethereum-based alternative.

• Market manipulation: Both tokens are heavily influenced by social media. Tweets from Elon Musk have triggered major spikes in DOGE, driven by speculative purchases from retail investors. Likewise, strong communities on Twitter and Reddit SHIB have generated similar rallies driven by hype and the fear of missing out (FOMO).

• Decentralization: Both cryptocurrencies are open-sourced, which enables audit monitoring and dispersed contribution to the blockchain. 

SHIB vs. DOGE: Legal and Regulatory Challenges

• Market Instability: Regulatory bodies consider volatility from SHIB and DOGE as a threat to investor protection and stability. Legal action against individuals responsible for causing rapid price inflation followed by sell-offs may occur.

• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) Compliance: Financial regulators mandate crypto exchanges and platforms to implement AML/KYC measures to mitigate risks of malicious transactions. Implementing these measures can be costly and less practical for decentralized exchanges, which SHIB is often traded on. 

• Taxation Compliance: The decentralized nature and high transaction volume of SHIB and DOGE make it easier to be noncompliant with capital gains tax. Governments may want to implement automated tools to ensure tax collection integrity.

Where to Buy Shiba Inu

Buy SHIB today with popular exchanges like Coinbase, eToro and Kraken

• Want something simple yet reliable? Embark on your crypto journey with Coinbase—a user-friendly, high-security platform 
• Want to trade like the pros? Benefit from eToro’s social trading features like CopyTrader, allowing you to replicate the strategies of successful traders. 
• Want to take your trading to the next level? Try Kraken’s advanced options like margin trading, comprehensive order types, and trading tools.

Where to Buy Dogecoin

Purchase DOGE today using trusted exchanges like eToro, Coinbase, and Kraken.

SHIB or DOGE, Which One Is Better?

Your risk threshold will largely determine which side of the DOGE vs. SHIB dispute you want to invest in. With nearly twice the market cap, DOGE has maintained its reputation as a more stable option than SHIB, which has a larger market presence and community. On the other hand, SHIB offers more speculative potential with an evolving ecosystem around the token.

The Bigger Picture — DOGE vs SHIB

SHIB and DOGE have captured the interest of investors worldwide, however, they both come with their own set of risks and potential. The sizable market cap of these tokens makes them favorable meme coin investments. Overall, DOGE lacks utility compared to SHIB but makes up for it with a larger community backing it. Conversely, SHIB is dedicated to reducing supply and expanding the token’s utility. Ultimately, both are meme coins that accrue value from the community believing in them. 

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