Shiba Inu (SHIB) is a cryptocurrency created anonymously in August 2020 by an individual known as "Ryoshi." This meme-based token quickly drew attention due to its playful image and social media endorsements from influencers like Elon Musk and Vitalik Buterin, which contributed to its rapid rise in popularity.
Shiba Inu is designed as an Ethereum-based counterpart to Dogecoin (DOGE) and uses the Scrypt mining algorithm. Beyond SHIB, there are several other dog-themed tokens, including Baby Dogecoin (BabyDoge), Dogecoin (DOGE), JINDO INU (JIND), Alaska Inu (LAS), and Alaskan Malamute Token (LASM). These smaller tokens attracted investors who missed the dramatic growth of Dogecoin.
The SHIB project is detailed in its “WoofPaper,” which explains that the token operates on the Ethereum blockchain, which is in the process of transitioning from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
Reference: CoinMarketCap