Somewhat resembling developments of Dogecoin in early 2021, the market cap of Shiba Inu (SHIB) more than tripled in only a few weeks. This rapid growth especially occurred since September 2021, with the cryptocurrency breaking the 10 billion U.S. dollar barrier multiple in the following month. Whilst no exact reason was given why the memecoin grew so fast during this time, the digital currency did become available on Coinbase, one of the world's most well-known crypto exchanges, on September 17. This move, and the fact that consumers in the U.S. and the UK overall tend to invest in crypto for fun or as a potential growth investment, might explain the popularity of the dog-themed coin. Indeed, Shiba Inu ranked as the number 13 cryptocurrency in the world based on market cap in late October 2021 - closely behind DeFi-affilated like Uniswap (UNI) and Terra (LUNA).

Memecoin Shiba Inu saw its price grow by more than 300 percent within one and the same month, marking a trading fury reminiscent of Dogecoin in early 2021. Indeed, the SHIB coin ranked as one of the biggest crypto in the world based on 24h trading volume in October 2021 - with trading activity being almost as high as that of Ethereum. Originally starting out as a fun token based on the famous Japanese dog breed, the digital currency grabbed mainstream attention in 2021 probably due to its low barrier of entry: Even after its price spikes, Shiba Inu was one of the cheapest coins availalbe, especially when compared to the price of 99 other cryptocurrencies. Combine this with survey information that most consumers in the U.S. and the UK invest in crypto either for growth or fun, and Shiba Inu is probably seen by many as a relatively simple, "quick win" investment.

A list containing 213 different stablecoins reveals that only two of them had a market cap of over 10 billion USD in 2025. The likes of Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are tied (pegged) to a "real-world" asset - in their case, the USD - whereas a coin like DAI is connected to the development of other cryptocurrencies. Algorithmic stablecoins have nearly no backing, but use an algorithm that creates more of a particular (crypto) asset within the same blockchain. Stablecoins as a group hit the news frequently in 2022, although only a few featured in a ranking of top 120 cryptocurrencies based on market cap. They are meant to be less volatile than, say, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Shiba INU (SHIB), or other virtual currencies susceptible to significant price swings. The price of the most well-known stablecoin, Tether (USDT), however, consistently hovers around a single USD as is tied (pegged) to the “real-world” U.S. dollar. As stablecoins are connected to physical currencies, they are not the same as Central Bank-Issued Digital Currencies or CBDC like the digital euro or China's e-CNY - which outright digitalize those same currencies.