- Did Shiba Inu’s dogs die, or are they just going through a crisis? The data behind its 95% share-price collapse

Shiba Inu (SHIB), the dog-inspired digital currency that delivered remarkable success in the crypto world and turned its early investors into millionaires, is facing tough times. Its price has fallen by more than 32% this year, and by 95% from its all-time high in 2021. So is SHIB just another digital currency whose popularity is fading, or is the market dismissing the possibility of its rebound?

Shiba Inu chart. Source: CoinGecko

- Why is the SHIB app stalling?
There are several reasons behind the continuous pullback of Shiba Inu (SHIB), and the decline in popularity of meme-linked cryptocurrencies is the main cause. When Dogecoin (DOGE), the first major meme-based digital currency, was launched in 2013, the sector was driven largely by speculation, widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies on social media, and retail investor enthusiasm. This momentum grew during the booming crypto market in 2020 and 2021, leading to huge gains across all meme-based cryptocurrencies, including Shiba Inu.

However, as the crypto market matured, investors shifted their focus from mere speculation to projects with greater value and practical applications in real life. Many meme-linked cryptocurrencies struggled to maintain long-term interest due to their limited use cases beyond speculation, leading to a drop in their value.

Despite the crash, Shiba Inu is still far from irrelevant, as its market value remains between $2.8 billion and $3 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Unlike other blockchain-based digital currencies that do not have their own blockchain and instead rely on Ethereum infrastructure, the SHIB ecosystem has expanded to include a decentralized exchange (DEX) platform called ShibaSwap and a layer-two network called Shibarium, adding some utility to the token. Shiba Inu has shifted from being just a meme token to a project more focused on utility, although a large portion of its value still stems from community buzz and speculation, which has not supported its price.

This downturn has been exacerbated by the Iran-U.S. war that began at the beginning of this year, leading to widespread risk aversion. High-risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies traded online and altcoins, were hit hard, as investors turned to safer havens like the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury bonds.

Moreover, SHIB’s correlation with Bitcoin (BTC) has intensified the severity of its decline. SHIB, like most cryptocurrencies, remains tightly linked to Bitcoin. As Bitcoin has fallen sharply by more than 50% from its all-time high in October 2025, SHIB’s decline has been further worsened.

Like other asset classes, cryptocurrencies are heavily affected by liquidity conditions. Generally, when investors find more attractive investment opportunities, they often move their capital away from high-risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. Many analysts believe that crypto investors have redirected their funds from it to the next big initial public offerings, such as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI. This shift in investor capital has negatively impacted the overall crypto market, contributing to increased downward pressure on Shiba Inu.
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