Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
Shiba Inu: From a ‘Dogecoin Killer’ Experiment to an Ecosystem
A meme token made on Ethereum in 2020 by anonymous Ryoshi
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is a meme token created on Ethereum in August 2020 by an anonymous developer called Ryoshi. Like Dogecoin it uses a Shiba dog as its mascot, and it has grown into an ecosystem with its own exchange and network.
1. Who made it and why
Ryoshi called Shiba Inu an experiment in building a decentralised community, nicknamed the “Dogecoin killer.” Of its one quadrillion SHIB, half was locked as liquidity on Uniswap and half was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
In May 2021 Buterin burned about 90% of the SHIB he had received and donated about 10% to a COVID-19 relief fund in India. The episode made headlines, spread the name widely and removed a large share of supply at once. On the Crypto Nation map, SHIB stands in Ethereum City (the capital), because it was first issued on Ethereum.
2. How the token and network work
SHIB is an ERC-20 token, so it is not mined; it moves through ordinary Ethereum wallets and exchanges. The ShibaSwap exchange opened in July 2021, bringing in BONE, a governance and reward token, and LEASH, a token with a very small supply.
In August 2023 Shibarium, a separate network built to avoid Ethereum’s high fees, went live. BONE pays its gas fees, and part of the network’s fees is used to buy and burn SHIB. Development has been led by a pseudonymous lead developer called Shytoshi Kusama.
3. Uses and key events
SHIB drew huge attention in the 2021 meme-coin boom and was listed by large US apps such as Coinbase in September 2021 and Robinhood in April 2022, inspiring a flood of dog-themed copies. Some shops and payment services accept it, and the community has tried NFTs, games and a metaverse project.
Shibarium stalled briefly after its August 2023 launch, when funds got stuck in its bridge, the tool that moves assets between chains. In September 2025 an attacker used a flash loan, a loan borrowed and repaid within one transaction, to amass BONE, seize validator signing power and drain about $2.4 million in assets from the Shibarium bridge. The team paused affected functions and asked the attacker to return the funds.
4. Things to know
As a meme token, SHIB’s value rests mainly on community attention rather than cash flows, so its price can swing sharply. Much of the supply sits in a few big wallets and exchange wallets, and burns can only shrink such a huge supply so far.
Its core developers are anonymous, and new pieces such as bridges and a separate network add hacking risk. Copycat tokens and scam sites imitating the name are common, so checking the official contract address and channels matters.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.