Shiba Inu (SHIB), the popular meme cryptocurrency, has experienced a significant surge in its price, rising by 15% in the past 24 hours. This impressive rally has propelled SHIB's market capitalization to $16.9 billion, surpassing that of Cardano (ADA) and making it the 11th largest cryptocurrency.
The surge in SHIB's price coincides with an overall revival in the meme coin sector, with many other assets witnessing substantial price increases. This has resulted in the total market capitalization of meme coins surpassing the $70 billion mark.
Two essential factors that may have contributed to the recent Shiba Inu rally are the project's burning mechanism and the advancement of its layer-2 scaling solution, Shibarium. The burn rate of SHIB tokens exploded by almost 600% a week ago, resulting in the destruction of nearly 10 million tokens. The program's ultimate goal is to reduce the tremendous circulating supply of the meme coin, potentially making it scarcer and more valuable over time.
Shibarium, which aims to elevate Shiba Inu above its rivals by lowering transaction fees and improving speed, has made significant strides since its launch last summer. It has surpassed the 400 million mark in total transactions and undergone two major upgrades to improve the user experience, empower the community of developers and innovators, and implement quicker block processing times.
Despite the surge, SHIB remains the second-biggest meme coin, trailing behind Dogecoin (DOGE), which currently boasts a market capitalization of over $24 billion. The success story of a long-term SHIB holder who turned a $2,625 investment into over $1.1 million after holding the meme coin for more than three years recently highlighted the potential for significant returns in the meme coin market.
While Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu have been lagging in price action recently, other dog-themed meme coins have been experiencing notable gains. Solana-based Dogwifhat (WIF) rose 34%, Floki (FLOKI) rose 35%, and Bonk (BONK) rose over 25% over the past week, demonstrating the widespread interest in meme coins across various blockchain platforms.
The recent surge in Shiba Inu's price has been a significant milestone for the project, as it has managed to overtake Cardano (ADA) in market capitalization. This achievement highlights the growing popularity and interest in meme coins among investors, despite the inherent risks associated with investing in such assets.