In the crypto circle of 2021, who was the most glamorous? The Shiba Inu coin (SHIB) would dare to say second, but no one would dare to claim the first. ​

This "little brother" that emerged in August 2020 staged a real-life "loser counterattack" over more than a year: from an almost worthless air coin, it skyrocketed to 0.00008616 USD in October 2021, with an increase that directly broke "millions of times"! Back then, people in the community posted screenshots every day: "I bought SHIB for 300 bucks at the beginning of the year, and now I can exchange it for a Tesla," making many people slap their thighs and shout in regret. ​

What's even crazier is that it left a bunch of big shots behind: Bitcoin barely rose less than 70% that year, Ethereum quadrupled, and even gold could only serve as a backdrop. SHIB was like it was on steroids, becoming the craziest wealth code of 2021. ​

How was the myth created? All thanks to this wave of skilled operations.

Speaking of SHIB's surge, we can't overlook a key figure — Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

When this project was first launched, the founding team played a tricky move: they directly sent half of the total supply (a whopping 500 trillion coins) to Buterin's wallet. On the surface, it looked like a "please endorse us" gesture, but secretly, they were betting that the big shot wouldn't care about this "small money."

Unexpectedly, Buterin made a big move in May 2021: he burned 410 trillion SHIB (worth over 6 billion USD at the time), and donated the remaining 90 trillion coins to India's COVID relief fund. This operation directly cut SHIB's circulating supply in half, causing an instant explosion in the crypto world — the logic of "burning = scarcity" was amplified infinitely, and retail investors rushed in crazily, pushing the price up to the sky.

At that time, the community was filled with shouts of "Charge!" Even the aunties who usually don't touch crypto were asking: "I heard buying a few hundred bucks worth of Shiba Inu could make you rich?"

Down 85%! The three harsh truths behind the shattered myth.

But when the tide goes out, we can see who was swimming naked. From the peak in 2021 to now, SHIB has dropped 85%, and many fans are stuck tightly. What exactly went wrong?

1. The "savior" will never come again.

Buterin's style of burning is just a flash in the pan. Now, there are still 589 trillion SHIB in circulation; even if the team screams "burning" every day, burning a few hundred billion at a time isn't enough to fill the gaps. With such a large quantity, relying on burning to rally the price? That's as hard as climbing to the sky.

2. The hype cooled down faster than ice cream.

The madness of 2021, to put it bluntly, was about "speculating on air." Back then, Twitter and Douyin were filled with stories of getting rich from SHIB, and even Musk had shared Shiba Inu memes to ride the wave. But speculative money comes quickly and leaves even faster. Once the bear market arrived, everyone was busy cashing out and running away; who still cared about what the "younger brother of Dogecoin"? Now, the community can barely see 10 new messages in a day, which is like a different world compared to the bustling activity of those days.

3. The bluster hasn't materialized yet.

The team has been saying that they want to "give SHIB actual value" through the Shibarium network, and in 2023, they finally launched this network, claiming it could be used for payments and DeFi. But the reality is, there are fewer than 50 applications on it, with only a few thousand active users daily, and there isn't even a decent trading scenario. The "real-world applications" that fans have been waiting for years are still just a blank check.

Can we still wait for a rebound? Old fans should recognize these two points.

Many die-hard fans are still waiting for SHIB to turn around; there are opportunities, but one must recognize the reality:

Either Shibarium suddenly becomes a hit, with a popular application emerging that boosts user numbers and allows SHIB to truly be used as "money"; or the entire crypto market welcomes a bull run, and speculative funds start trading meme coins again, which might let SHIB get a taste.

But to be honest, the kind of myth in 2021 where "a few hundred bucks turn into mansions" is unlikely to be repeated. For ordinary fans, instead of refreshing prices every day hoping for a surge, it's better to pay attention to the actual progress of the project — after all, a coin that can go far relies on more than just speculation.

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