Shiba Inu's current market capitalization of $41 billion exceeds that of ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, and Adani Green Energy. Despite enormous profits, the alt coin's price volatility makes it extremely dangerous.

Shiba Inu, a meme token, has been reaching "for the moon," with its price increasing by more than 140 percent in the last week. The price increase has made the first investors in the joke token billionaires.

One such holding, who put $8,000 into Shiba Inu in August of last year, is now worth $5.7 billion. "We may be looking at the greatest individual trade of all time," the Morning Brew tweeted, along with a photo of the user's wallet.

Several other people who own these alt coins have made huge profits from their investments. One of them, who invested $200 a year ago, showed off his profits, claiming that the value of his coins had reached $21 million.

According to Coinmarketcap, Shiba Inu, the self-proclaimed 'dogecoin killer,' may have succeeded in its 'kill mission,' since it is rated eighth in terms of market capitalization, easily ahead of Dogecoin, which is placed tenth.

If that doesn't get your attention, Shiba Inu's current worth of $44 billion is higher than the market capitalizations of ITC, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, and Adani Green Energy.

The all-time high comes following a Change.org petition urging cryptocurrency trading site Robinhood to include Shiba Inu. "Let's push Robinhood to be the first traditional brokerage to jump on board!" said the petition.

Shiba Inu was recently launched on Binance, and its popularity is growing by the hour. "How can I purchase Shiba?" asks half of the questions on trading boards.

What is a Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu, founded in August 2020 by an unidentified person going by the moniker Ryoshi, is modelled after Dogecoin. Shiba Inu, a Japanese dog breed, inspired the coin's design. The Shiba pup inspired the alt coin's logo.

The alt coin aspires to be Dogecoin's Ethereum-based equivalent. Ethereum is a blockchain system that is governed by the community and powers the cryptocurrency ether (ETH).

Shiba Inu gained over 40% in September when US-based Coinbase announced that its customers can trade, transmit, receive, or store SHIB on its platform.

According to the Shiba Inu website, Shiba Inu began with a supply of one quadrillion, but the founder locked half of it in the cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap before "burning" the other half to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for safekeeping. Coin burning is a method used by cryptocurrency miners and developers to control the price of a coin by limiting supply and incentivizing long-term ownership by consumers.

"The Shiba Inu token system helps innovative and artistic ventures like NFT art incubators." The ShibaSwap, the company's own decentralised exchange, is also in the works. "These are the variables that are fueling the token's value and interest among merchants," said Nirmal Ranga, Chief Revenue Officer of ZebPay.

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a type of digital asset. Designers utilise NFT art to categorise and monetise their digital artwork.

"The rise in volumes witnessed by the token can also be related to FOMO (the Fear of Missing Out) - as interest peaks, traders rush to participate in the rally as a means of booking profits," he added.

Should you invest in Shiba Inu?

While the large returns make Shiba Inu extremely enticing, the price volatility and danger are high. In contrast to Bitcoin, which is hosted on its own blockchain and aims to create a decentralised ecosystem with maximal usefulness, altcoins such as Shiba Inu can be hosted on the Ethereum blockchain and rely on community growth.

Alt coins, which are easier to manufacture and considerably less expensive than well-thought-out coinage like Bitcoin, are fraught with danger. With a price of less than $1, Shiba Inu is predicted to be concentrated in a few hands, causing its price to be extremely unpredictable.