If Shiba Inu becomes an accepted means of payment, it will have real utility, translating to sustainable growth

Shiba Inu has taken the internet by storm. It started as a meme coin, much like its competitor Dogecoin. However, it has tremendously grown in popularity, making it a viable investment for crypto traders.

Unlike Dogecoin, SHIB is Ethereum-compatible. It was designed with this purpose in mind. As a result, it already has a head-start on much more successful tokens, which is why it is believed that SHIB is only going to grow in value.

SHIB was released on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token with a total supply of one quadrillion coins. But as the project grew, the creators of Shiba Inu wanted to turn it into a full-fledged decentralized ecosystem and transfer 100% of the rights to the community to manage the protocol without a governing body. The token is available on several major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, FTX, and WazirX, to name a few. But the most convenient and popular success has been SHIB's acceptance in the Binance Exchange. The Shiba Inu ecosystem also holds a decentralized exchange called Shiba Swap, which was launched at the same time as the native SHIB token. Shiba Inu's popularity among crypto investors might impress some crypto investors, but its lack of real-world utilities might become a negative factor for several others.

A Peek Into Shiba Inu in 2021 

There's no question that Shiba Inu has been one of the biggest winners of 2021. The numbers climbed steadily for SHIB through 2021. The metrics peaked in October of that year when the price of a Shiba Inu coin reached US$.0008, a rise of  1000% over the previous 25 days. For a brief period, Shiba Inu had a larger market valuation than Dogecoin and had reached the top 10 of all cryptocurrencies in total market capitalization.  

The Current Affairs of Shiba Inu 

The crypto domain started considering Shiba Inu as a worthy investment since the token was accepted for listing in the Binance exchange. The crypto witnessed its price skyrocketing exponentially last year, within a very short period. However, it did not succeed at keeping its position. But experts predict that mid-2022 might hold a different story for the SHIB token. Due to the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies all over the world, SHIB may also catch the attention of investors looking for an affordable investment option. 

Shiba Inu has extremely limited utility outside cryptocurrency exchanges. Online business directory Cryptwerk lists only 375 merchants worldwide as accepting SHIB for payments and over 10% of these merchants are just crypto exchanges. Comparatively, there are more than 500 million entrepreneurs in the world. The blunt reality is that SHIB isn't useful in the real world.

But if you want to make money in the future, SHIB is still a great currency to invest in. The asset is prone to big price fluctuations because it is meme money. It's also an intriguing option because of its low price. 

If Shiba Inu becomes an accepted means of payment, it will have real utility, translating to sustainable growth. The Shib army is unrelenting, and Elon hasn't dropped the coin. From a technical analysis perspective, SHIB is likely to reverse from the bear market and head upwards. In this case, the price is likely to hit resistance at an all-time high of US$0.000088 and break above the level. Therefore, holding may not be a bad idea.

Shiba Inu's Entry into the Metaverse 

Another big point of growth for Shiba Inu appears to be the tokens' entry into the Metaverse. In January 2022, Shiba Inu developers announced that they are working on the Shibverse, an immersive metaverse project for their ecosystem. Not many details about the Metaverse are out yet, but analysts expect this to be a big deal for Shiba Inu.

The Metaverse is a massive undertaking, with different companies already committing funds towards it. JPMorgan, a bank that already has some land in the Metaverse, estimates that this new concept could be a trillion-dollar market.