Shiba Inu has kept a spot in crypto talk even as its price has slid sharply. According to reports, the network had a market cap of $5 billion as of Dec. 6, and it still draws attention because people know the name. That visibility, however, does not settle the debate over whether the token belongs in a long-term portfolio.
Shiba Inu’s Price And Market Size
Based on reports, Shiba Inu has seen massive moves over several years. Roughly five years ago it traded near $0.0000000001684; at the time of writing, it is quoted at about $0.000008439.
SHIB’s all-time high stands at $0.00008845, which means the token trades roughly 85% below that peak. Reports have disclosed that SHIB has tanked about 55% so far this year, and some data points show almost a 60% decline over a recent 12-month span. Those drops have pushed many investors to ask whether the story that once lifted SHIB has faded.
On-Chain Signals And Holder Counts
There are mixed signals on the chain. Data from CryptoQuant is reported to show memecoin dominance falling to its lowest level since early 2024, a sign that speculative interest across similar tokens has ebbed.
At the same time, the number of wallets holding SHIB moved from about 1.45 million at the start of the year to around 1.52 million more recently. That jump in holders was noted alongside the price slide. It suggests distribution rather than complete abandonment; small increases in holders do not always mean increased trading activity, but they can show steady retail interest.
Pundit Views And The Utility Question
Meanwhile, crypto pundit Neil Patel has listed reasons he would not treat Shiba Inu as a proper investment. He argues the memecoin doesn’t solve a clear, large-scale problem and points out that developer activity for SHIB is limited compared with many other networks.
The claim is that much of SHIB’s value has been driven by hype cycles and not by broad real-world use. Those views were presented in firm terms, and they have been repeated across a range of commentaries that warn about hype-driven tokens.
Investor Takeaways And Risks
Investors who want exposure to crypto are often told to look at major networks such as Bitcoin for scarcity-driven arguments; that point was brought up in several reports. At the same time, SHIB’s supporting projects — a layer-two chain, a decentralized exchange, a metaverse concept — are real but appear to have small adoption so far.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
