Key takeaways:
Algorithm forecasts that the Shiba Inu (SHIB) cryptocurrency could surge over 66% after the Bitcoin halving event, potentially reaching $0.00006507 by the end of July.
Shiba Inu has been actively upgrading its ecosystem during the bear market, including launching the Shibarium layer-2 blockchain last August.
Over 1.3 million wallet addresses have been created on Shibarium since its launch, allowing developers to create various dApps, games, NFTs, and more leveraging lower fees.
Shiba Inu price could increase significantly in the coming months
The cryptocurrency market has been energized by a frenzy around meme coins, with multiple dog-themed digital assets seeing huge triple-digit price gains over the past week. In this bullish environment, the algorithm predicts that Shiba Inu (SHIB), one of the leading meme coins, could increase 66% to around $0.00006507 by the end of July 2024.
At the time of writing, Shiba Inu is trading at $0.00004042, having already rallied an impressive 55% in the last 24 hours and 295% in the last 7 days. SHIB's total market value has swelled to $24 billion, cementing its position among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Meme coin frenzy
The recent frenzy in the meme coin arena has seen several prominent names post impressive gains. Dogecoin (DOGE), the original meme cryptocurrency, has surged over 90% in just a week to above $0.18.
Meanwhile, Floki Inu (FLOKI) has skyrocketed by a mind-boggling 176%, while the Solana-based Bonk (BONK) and the frog-themed Pepe Coin (PEPE) have climbed by 142% and 216%, respectively.
This frenzy has been fueled by a couple of recent events like the overall bullish crypto market driven by Bitcoin's resilience, the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US, renewed interest from retail investors, and speculative trading based on fear of missing out (FOMO).
Shiba Inu's milestones and momentum
Shiba Inu has already achieved several significant milestones in its meteoric rise. Recently, the token broke into the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, surpassing established projects like Avalanche (AVAX), which is currently at 11th and Polkadot (DOT) at 14th. Moreover, with a market cap exceeding $20 billion, Shiba Inu is closing in on Dogecoin, its closest meme coin rival, raising the possibility of a "flippening" in the near future.
Shibarium’s impressive performance since launch
Contributing to Shiba Inu's momentum are several upcoming catalysts, including the recent launch of Shibarium, the project's layer-2 scaling solution on August 2023.
Shibarium allows developers to build Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible decentralized apps (dApps) that can leverage the low fees and high throughput of a layer-2 scaling solution while still benefiting from the security of the Ethereum base layer.
SHIB holders can access a growing ecosystem of DeFi protocols, Web3 games with earn-to-play mechanics, Shibarium-based NFT collections, and more powered by the new L2 chain.
Despite some initial growing pains, Shibarium has seen rapid adoption, with over 1.3 million wallets created since its launch. The developer community has also been active, creating 9.303k new tokens and deploying 13,424 smart contracts on Shibarium. Over 995 million transactions have been processed so far.
Image source: shibariumscan.io
Bitcoin halving: A potential catalyst for SHIB's next leg up
While SHIB's ecosystem growth has been impressive, the AI-driven pricing model is likely baking in another major bullish catalyst on the horizon - the Bitcoin halving expected in mid-April.
The Bitcoin halving is an event that occurs roughly every 4 years, reducing the new BTC issued as rewards to miners by 50%. This systematically slows the rate of new Bitcoin entering circulation, constricting supply over time.
Historically, Bitcoin halvings have preceded explosive bull runs in the broader crypto market, as the decreasing supply puts upward pressure on BTC's price. The last two halvings in 2016 and 2020 saw Bitcoin's price increase by over 8,300% and 286% in the year after, respectively.
Given Bitcoin's oversized influence, a post-halving BTC rally in 2024 would likely have a knock-on effect igniting bullish momentum for major altcoins like Shiba Inu as well.
Bottom line: Shiba Inu continues to expand the meme coin ecosystem
With a market capitalization exceeding $24 billion and numerous catalysts on the horizon, Shiba Inu appears poised to cement its status as a force in the realm of meme coins.
The recent frenzy around meme cryptocurrencies has really excited people in the crypto community, with Shiba Inu leading the way. If the algorithm predictions are correct and Shiba Inu's price keeps rising rapidly, it could cement itself as a formidable meme cryptocurrency, potentially becoming even bigger than the legendary Dogecoin.
The recent uptrend has also reinvigorated discussions about Shiba Inu's potential to reach 1 cent, or perhaps even $1 in the future. While that seems very unlikely due to the coin’s massive supply, the Shibarium’s burn features could play a vital role in that regard.