Shiba Inu may be due for another price push to the upside after revealing its metaverse plans for 2022.
Can Shiba Inu reverse course?
Shiba Inu was the best-performing cryptocurrency in 2022, coming from virtually nowhere to establish itself as a top 15 coin and even briefly flipping its rival Dogecoin.
However, Shiba has been pronounced dead more than once in the last few months. After losing more than 70% fro its all-time high, it’s easy to be a Shiba bear. When crypto is not in a roaring bull market, altcoins struggle and meme coins like Shiba Inu struggle even more.
Under the hood, Shiba has been making good progress, though. The “SHIBArmy” pivoted towards making the popular dog coin a serious project several months ago. That is when Shiba started developing projects like a Shiba Inu stablecoin, a Shiba Inu decentralised exchange, and even a Shiba Inu layer-two blockchain.
Furthermore, Shiba Inu is working on a metaverse, and analysts expect it to propel Shiba Inu to past price highs. After Shiba auctioned virtual land with its LEASH token last month, a public sale for land is to follow soon. Shiba Inu developers said that “[…] our Metaverse serves as the anchor in our sustainable ecosystem, as we add even more utility, projects, and benefits for our beloved ShibArmy, the best crypto community out there.”
The bull case for SHIB
This newly-found focus on utility should bode well for the price of SHIB. As Bitcoin stabilises around the $50,000 AUD mark, most altcoins are only waiting for a breakout to the upside. Furthermore, whales have been accumulating SHIB over the last few months. WhaleStats, a crypto tracking website, recently revealed that SHIB was once again the most traded token among the top 1,000 Ethereum whales. The amount of SHIB held by Ethereum whales increased by a whooping 178.87%, with volume traded and active SHIB addresses seeing similar vertical growth in the last weeks.
Thanks to its recent burn events, SHIB is also subject to constant deflationary price dynamics. When Ethereum activated its burn last summer, the market only cuaght up to the reducing supply of ETH after several weeks. A similar dynamic may be playing out for SHIB.
Crypto analysts expect SHIB to revisit its old all-time highs later this year, provided Bitcoin does not break to the downside. As yield becomes ever harder to come by in crypto, investors could turn to “reliable assets” that have seen significant fundamental development – SHIB is a prime example of that.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed in crypto. But events like its recent Shiba Inu NFT drop have yield hunters rubbing their hands at the prospect of an unexpected breakout. Add this to all the bullish indicators and SHIB may be in for an unexpected price surge. While bulls are not in control, bears could become complacent in a market that has been eerily stable over the last few weeks.
