Shiba Inu (SHIB) Performed Better Than Expected: Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin

Here's why Buterin burned over 410 trillion SHIB tokens three years ago.

TL;DR

  • Shiba Inu defied early skepticism to become a top 15 cryptocurrency, notably praised by Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin.
  • SHIB has been among the best-performing cryptocurrencies lately, surpassing trading volumes of well-known digital assets like Ripple’s XRP and Cardano’s ADA.

SHIB Beat the Odds

The popular meme coin – Shiba Inu – is currently among the top 15 biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and one of the most trending assets due to the huge number of SHIB holders. However, the token was not such a rock star in its early days.

Launched in August 2020, its valuation during the first several months of existence showed little signs of an upcoming surge. The initial pump occurred in April-May 2021 when Shiba Inu’s market cap spiked above $8 billion.

Back then, Ethereum’s Co-Founder – Vitalik Buterin – burned approximately 410 trillion SHIB and donated 50 trillion SHIB to India, which was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic at the time. 

Most recently, the Russian-Canadian programmer said he did so because he thought Shiba Inu’s price would “drop 100x in a few days.” He also admitted that the meme coin “massively” outperformed his expectations.

SHIB Price Outlook

Those who have been part of the industry long enough are aware that Shiba Inu’s rally did not stop in May 2021 but was followed by an even more substantial bull run in October 2021. While the price headed south in the following years, coinciding with the prolonged bear market, a new massive resurgence started in February 2024.

SHIB exploded by over 200% in the past month and is among the best-performing cryptocurrencies in the last few days. As CryptoPotato reported, essential metrics related to its ecosystem skyrocketed, while Shiba Inu trading volume on a 24-hour scale surpassed the figures generated by Ripple’s XRP and Cardano’s ADA.

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Meanwhile, Buterin’s stash that got destroyed three years ago would now be worth almost $12.5 billion. 

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About the author

Dimitar got interested in cryptocurrencies back in 2018 amid the prolonged bear market. His biggest passion in the field is Bitcoin and he was fascinated with its journey. With a flair for producing high-quality content, he started covering the cryptocurrency space in late 2018. His hobby is football.