Shiba Inu coin (SHIB) is a cryptocurrency that was created in August 2020 by an anonymous founder known as Ryoshi. It started off as a meme coin inspired by the popular Dogecoin and featured the Shiba Inu dog as its mascot. Shiba Inu coin quickly gained a lot of attention and developed a passionate community due to its low starting price and meme appeal. Many cryptocurrency investors are interested to know what price Shiba Inu started trading at when it was first launched.
The Creation of Shiba Inu Coin
According to the project’s whitepaper, Shiba Inu coin was created in August 2020 by Ryoshi. Ryoshi has remained anonymous and little is known about the founder or founders behind the cryptocurrency.
Shiba Inu was created on the Ethereum blockchain and utilized decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to allow users to swap, stake, and earn interest on their coins. Ryoshi stated that they wanted to create a coin that would grow a vibrant community and called the project an “experiment in decentralized spontaneous community building.”
The coin was likely inspired by the success of Dogecoin, which also features a dog mascot (a Shiba Inu dog) and has grown into a popular meme currency. However, Shiba Inu aimed to differentiate itself by enabling DeFi capabilities and decentralized governance by the SHIB community.
The Initial Launch and Distribution
Shiba Inu coin first launched on August 1, 2020, with an initial supply of 1 quadrillion tokens. This massive supply was intentional to ensure the starting price per coin would be extremely low.
When SHIB first became available for trading, 50% of the total supply (500 trillion tokens) was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Another 50 trillion tokens were locked into Uniswap for initial liquidity and the remaining 450 trillion were kept by Ryoshi.
By sending 50% of the tokens to Vitalik Buterin, the founders essentially removed them from circulation, as it was unlikely Buterin would actively manage the coins. This allowed the SHIB supply to start much lower than 1 quadrillion tokens.
The Starting Price of Shiba Inu Coin
Due to the huge starting supply of 1 quadrillion tokens and limited initial demand or liquidity, the price of SHIB was extremely low at launch.
The First Transactions
Based on data from DeBank and Etherscan, some of the first SHIB transactions took place in mid-August 2020 on Uniswap.
One of the earliest liquidity pools was formed on August 10, 2020 with 100 SHIB paired against 0.001956 ETH, valuing each SHIB at $0.00000001956.
Other early Uniswap transactions showed SHIB trading at prices like:
- August 13: 100 SHIB/0.002 ETH – $0.00000002 per SHIB
- August 15: 1 SHIB/0.00000002061 ETH – $0.00000002061 per SHIB
- August 20: 100 SHIB/0.00000411 ETH – $0.0000000411 per SHIB
First Exchange Listings
Shiba Inu coin first became available on cryptocurrency exchanges in early September 2020. According to CoinMarketCap data, SHIB started trading on September 9, 2020 on its first exchange, Uniswap. In the first days of exchange trading, the average price hovered around $0.000000000100 (~$0.000000010).
| Exchange | Listing Date | Opening Price |
|---|---|---|
| Uniswap | September 9, 2020 | $0.0000000001 |
| Hotbit | September 10, 2020 | $0.000000000099 |
Trading volume remained very low, likely due to the limited awareness of this new and unproven meme coin.
First Month of Trading
For most of its first month of exchange trading from mid-September 2020 to mid-October 2020, data from CoinMarketCap shows the price of Shiba Inu coin remained fairly stable around $0.000000000100 (~$0.000000010).
There was minimal price movement, likely due to low trading volumes in these early days. Some sample low prices:
- September 17, 2020 – $0.0000000000114
- September 27, 2020 – $0.0000000000977
- October 8, 2020 – $0.00000000008
- October 16, 2020 – $0.00000000011
Key Takeaways on Starting Price
In summary, the starting price of Shiba Inu coin was extremely low, ranging between $0.000000000077 and $0.000000000196 in its first weeks of Uniswap trading. During its first month of exchange availability, the average price remained around $0.00000000010.
The reasons for this low starting valuation include:
- Massive starting supply of 1 quadrillion tokens
- No trading activity or liquidity at launch
- Low awareness and demand for a new meme coin project
- Prices fluctuated based on few early trades
While many cryptocurrencies have a low starting price, few have started as low as SHIB did. For example, here is how SHIB’s launch price compares:
| Cryptocurrency | Launch Date | Launch Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | January 2009 | Less than $0.01 |
| Ethereum | July 2015 | $0.311 |
| Dogecoin | December 2013 | $0.00026 |
| Shiba Inu | August 2020 | $0.00000000010 |
Rising Popularity and Price
While Shiba Inu had almost no value in its early days, the coin saw its price start to rise significantly in late 2020 and early 2021.
By January 2021, SHIB was trading around $0.000000022, likely driven by growing awareness of the project.
The biggest price surge occurred in April and May 2021, with SHIB reaching an all-time high of $0.0000388 on May 10, 2021. This was sparked by several factors, including:
- Listings on major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase
- Increased media attention and meme coin hype
- Vitalik Buterin burning trillions of SHIB tokens
- FOMO buying and speculative trading
While SHIB has retreated from its peak, it continues to maintain a strong community. The coin now ranks among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Conclusion
Shiba Inu coin had a launch price of essentially zero – between $0.000000000077 and $0.000000000196 in its first weeks of Uniswap trading. Its low starting valuation was due to its massive token supply of 1 quadrillion, lack of awareness, and low initial demand. Prices remained extremely low through its first month of exchange availability with an average price around $0.00000000010. However, rising popularity and speculative demand saw SHIB surge in 2021 to an all-time high of $0.0000388. Despite retreating from this peak, SHIB has achieved a notable price increase of over 1 million percent from its humble beginnings as a largely unknown meme coin.