Shiba Inu coin exploded in popularity and price in 2021, quickly becoming one of the hottest cryptocurrencies on the market. However, like many other altcoins, Shiba Inu has seen its price decline significantly from its all-time highs in late 2021. This has led many investors to wonder if they should continue holding their Shiba Inu coins or if they should cut their losses and move on to other investments. In this article, we’ll examine the arguments for and against holding Shiba Inu in late 2022 and offer some advice on what to consider when deciding whether to hold or sell your coins.
What is Shiba Inu coin?
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is a meme-inspired cryptocurrency that launched in August 2020. It features the likeness of the Shiba Inu dog breed as its mascot. The coin was created anonymously by someone under the pseudonym “Ryoshi” and was promoted as an alternative to Dogecoin, another dog-themed meme coin.
Shiba Inu runs on the Ethereum blockchain and has a total supply of 1 quadrillion tokens. Of that supply, 50% was gifted to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin at launch, while the other 50% was locked into Uniswap, a decentralized crypto exchange. The large token supply and lack of founder ownership are part of what has made SHIB appealing as a decentralized community-run cryptocurrency.
Shiba Inu’s meteoric rise and fall
Shiba Inu flew mostly under the radar until May 2021, when it exploded seemingly out of nowhere. By October 2021, Shiba Inu had become one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a peak price of $0.00008845 on October 28, 2021.
This represented a jaw-dropping gain of over 115,000,000% from its price of $0.000000000073 just one year earlier in September 2020. Shiba Inu delivered life-changing gains for investors who got in early and held on during its parabolic rise.
However, the good times did not last for long. After reaching its peak, Shiba Inu saw its price decline steadily throughout 2022. As of October 2022, SHIB is trading around $0.00001077, down nearly 90% from its all-time high.
This extreme volatility has left many Shiba Inu holders wondering whether the coin still has a future or if its best days are now behind it.
The case for holding Shiba Inu
While Shiba Inu’s declines in 2022 have been painful, there are still reasons why some investors may want to continue holding their coins:
1. Potential for additional exchange listings
One of the biggest potential catalysts for Shiba Inu would be getting listed on major exchanges like Coinbase. In September 2021, a Coinbase listing caused the price of SHIB to nearly double in one day. Additional exchange listings could again drive new investor interest and upside for the coin.
2. Future development on Shibarium layer-2
The Shiba Inu team is working on launching Shibarium, a layer-2 solution similar to Polygon that would allow faster and cheaper transactions on the Shiba Inu network. If launched successfully, this could improve SHIB’s utility and make it technically more competitive with other layer-2 projects.
3. Possibility of Robinhood listing
Many investors believe popular trading app Robinhood listing SHIB could trigger massive retail investment, as it did for Dogecoin. This potential catalyst is still on the table pending Robinhood’s regulatory approvals.
4. Loyal community backing
Shiba Inu has built an extremely passionate community around the “dogecoin killer” concept. These grassroots supporters have shown a strong commitment to continuing to develop use cases and promote their favorite memecoin. Their enthusiasm helps support SHIB’s price even amid negative market conditions.
5. Speculative potential if crypto market recovers
If the overall crypto market starts trending upwards again, risky speculative assets like Shiba Inu tend to see strong inflows as investors become less risk-averse. This could allow SHIB to potentially regain some of its massive 2021 upside.
The case against holding Shiba Inu
However, there are also several compelling arguments for why investors may want to abandon Shiba Inu for greener pastures:
1. Lack of real-world utility
Unlike cryptos like Ethereum or Ripple’s XRP, Shiba Inu currently has minimal real-world utility supporting its price. This makes SHIB essentially only a speculative bet on investor enthusiasm continuing to drive its valuation. Without utility, long-term investors may lose patience holding SHIB.
2. Controversies around key figure Ryoshi
Shiba Inu’s pseudonymous founder Ryoshi disappeared from the public eye in early 2022, leading to controversy around their true identity and questions around Shiba’s long-term leadership. Ryoshi transferring the cryptographic keys and access needed to update Shiba’s smart contracts added even more uncertainty. These issues threaten community faith in the project.
3. Failure to differentiate from Dogecoin
Shiba Inu arose as a Dogecoin imitator but has so far struggled to truly differentiate itself from Doge in any meaningful way. With Dogecoin’s first mover advantage, it may be difficult for Shiba Inu to carve out a unique, lasting niche.
4. Vulnerable to regulatory risks
Memecoins like SHIB could face existential threats from potential future cryptocurrency regulations that aim to limit speculative trading and volatility. Since Shiba Inu lacks definitive real-world uses, it may have less protection against regulatory clampdowns.
5. Rapidly declining trading volume and interest
Trading volume and social media discussion data show that despite the loyal community, overall investor interest in Shiba Inu has declined massively since the 2021 mania peak. Without renewed hype, its price may continue languishing at lower levels.
| Pros of Holding Shiba Inu | Cons of Holding Shiba Inu |
|---|---|
| Potential for more exchange listings | Lack of real-world utility |
| Upcoming Shibarium layer-2 development | Controversies around founder Ryoshi |
| Possibility of a Robinhood listing | Failure to differentiate from Dogecoin |
| Loyal community backing coin development | Vulnerable to regulatory risks |
| Upside if crypto market recovers | Declining interest and trading volume |
Key factors to consider when deciding to hold or sell Shiba Inu
When weighing whether to hold or sell SHIB, some key factors investors should consider include:
Your investment time horizon
Are you a short-term trader looking to take quick profits, or a long-term HODLer? Short-term holders may want to sell into any brief hype-driven price spikes, while long-term investors may have more appetite to wait out bear markets for future rebounds.
Your risk tolerance
Memecoins like SHIB tend to be highly volatile and risky. If you have low risk tolerance, it may be wise to take risk off the table by converting to stablecoins or less volatile large cap coins. Higher risk tolerance investors may be willing to continue holding.
Your cost basis
If you bought SHIB near the all-time highs, you may want to sell at a loss for tax write-off purposes and put remaining capital into assets with better outlooks. However, if you accumulated at lower prices, you may have more leeway to keep holding through downturns.
Percentage of portfolio allocated to SHIB
If Shiba Inu occupies a significant portion of your crypto portfolio, it may be prudent to take some profit when able to lower risk exposure. On the other hand, as a small part of a diversified portfolio, a SHIB position may still be justified.
Outlook on memecoin sector
Do you expect the memecoin trend to persist and possibly recover, or fade away? Selling may make sense if you expect meme mania to be over for good. But holding may be reasonable if you think memecoins can regain popularity.
| Factor | Considerations |
|---|---|
| Investment time horizon | Long term holders may have more patience vs short term traders looking to take profits |
| Risk tolerance | Lower risk tolerance suggests taking money off the table |
| Cost basis | Selling at a loss may be advisable if bought at higher prices |
| Portfolio allocation to SHIB | Larger allocations may warrant taking some profit |
| Outlook on memecoin sector | Bearish outlook means selling may be prudent |
Conclusion
Deciding whether to hold or sell Shiba Inu is ultimately a complex determination that depends on your personal financial situation and outlook on the future of memecoins. There are valid arguments on both sides of the debate.
For some investors, it may make sense to continue holding at least a portion of their SHIB as a speculative moonshot bet, in hopes that catalysts like new exchange listings or the Shibarium launch may revive buyer interest. However, other investors may conclude the risks now outweigh potential rewards, and prefer to exit their positions to seek better returns elsewhere.
Carefully weighing the pros and cons, and analyzing key factors like your timeline, risk tolerance, and portfolio balance can help guide your decision making. Seeking input from objective outside sources like financial advisors may also help provide perspective. There is no definitively “right” choice that applies to everyone, but doing your due diligence before deciding to hold or sell is always wise.
