Bitcoin vs Shiba: Which Crypto Should You Buy?

SHIB vs BTC: Which One Should Be In Your Portfolio?

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Last Updated December 29th 2022
16 Min Read

Curious to know the difference between Bitcoin vs Shiba? Want to have in-depth knowledge of Shiba and Bitcoin? You have landed in the right place. In this article, SHIB vs. BTC: which one should be in your portfolio, we are going to distinguish between these two coins.

The cryptocurrency market already looks wildly different to how it did at the start of 2021 and new projects have emerged that threaten to disrupt the status quo.

Whilst Bitcoin is still the undisputed king of the crypto scene, many investors believe the original cryptocurrency’s glory days could be over. As such, they are looking to other projects that could potentially offer bigger returns. One of the more off-the-wall prospects is the Shiba Inu token.

As a self-proclaimed Dogecoin Killer, Shiba Inu is effectively a parody of a parody of the cryptocurrency industry and is likely to be dismissed by the more serious investor. However, as we have seen with DOGE, a coin that develops a loyal following can make serious waves for the market.

So can a coin like Shiba Inu ever be a credible rival for a behemoth like Bitcoin? In the following comparison of Bitcoin vs Shiba we’ll look at a few reasons why it might be best not to write Shiba off just yet and consider how its fundamentals compare to those of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin vs Shiba: Which Is the Better Buy?

Bitcoin and Shiba May Already Be in Your Portfolio. But Which one Has the Better Investment Going Forward?

SHIB and BTC, two of the best and famous cryptocurrencies, have been mainstays of many investors’ portfolios. Even the lay investor knows about them, which is why they’re perhaps the two Cryptocurrencies our trading-community friends and students most frequently ask us about.

Specifically, what they ask are: What is the main difference between Bitcoin and Shiba? Is SHIB a better investment than BTC? Which is the best investment going forward? With that in mind, we thought it might be useful to break it down with Shiba vs. Bitcoin tale of the tape.

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Shiba vs Bitcoin - A Comparison Between Them

Bitcoin vs Shiba Inu

When comparing Shiba and Bitcoin side by side, it is immediately apparent that they are very different in terms of technical particulars. That being said, there are a few similarities, as we shall see. 

Realistically, it’s unlikely that Shiba will dominate based on anything to do with its design - but at this stage, the same should also be true of Bitcoin. However, even though It is likely that the power of community and market sentiment will decide this particular battle, understanding the difference between the tokens is an important consideration when assessing their longevity. 

Shiba vs Bitcoin - The Key Differences

Here are the most important ways the two assets differ:

Background

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and undoubtedly the most well-known token worldwide. It has dominated that market since its white paper - authored by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto - appeared in 2009 and is almost single-handedly responsible for putting blockchain on the map. 

By today’s standards, the original remit of Bitcoin was fairly straightforward. It sought to provide a decentralised payment system that could operate securely, without the need for a third party, such as a bank or government body. 

Since its inception, Bitcoin has become notorious for yielding huge investor returns - and not without reason. When BTC started trading it was worth virtually nothing, yet by 2013 a single Bitcoin token was trading at over $1,000. Fast forward to today and one complete BTC token will now set you back $43,000. Naturally, those who chose to invest early on have done very well.

Let’s face it, on the surface, Shiba Inu is an unlikely candidate for one of the safer cryptocurrency investments. The token has pretty much been set up with one purpose in mind - to cash in on the success that Dogecoin experienced in 2020/2021. Its origins actually bear similarity to Bitcoin’s, as it was announced by way of a whitepaper authored by the pseudonymous Ryoshi.

But Shiba is more than just a Doge clone. In fact, since its inception developers have jumped onto the SHIB train and built an entire digital ecosystem around the coin. Due to its being built on the Ethereum network, SHIB actually has much more adaptability than BTC and can be easily absorbed into other DeFi projects

Shiba launched Shibswap - its own proprietary DEX on which users are incentivised with SHIB and can buy and sell numerous other ERC-20 tokens. If Shibswap can become ‘the people’s DEX’ then those who took a punt on SHIB early on could end up having the last laugh. 

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Transactions and Speed

Whilst Bitcoin is very much still holding the crypto top spot, many critics have pointed out that the blockchain’s lack of scalability will ultimately be its downfall. Whilst this may not become a major concern for those investing in Bitcoin in 2023, it is something that could soon hamper BTC’s growth.

Bitcoin’s reliance on the proof-of-work consensus mechanism and the SHA-256 algorithm means it takes roughly ten minutes for a new block to be created. To put this in perspective, Ethereum (the network upon which Shiba is built) can add a block in as little as 15 seconds.

Its lack of speed means Bitcoin is limited to about 5 transactions per second.

Realistically, Bitcoin isn’t fast enough to support everyday retail transactions - as per its original remit. But there’s also a growing environmental concern. Bitcoin miners around the world use roughly the same amount of electricity as a small country. Given that most countries are shifting towards a carbon-neutral future, this could seriously hamper Bitcoin’s long term viability. 

The original SHIB token is built on the Ethereum blockchain, so makes use of its architecture when creating blocks and processing transactions. Whilst Ethereum may have faced congestion issues in the past, the much anticipated 2.0 upgrade should hopefully put an end to these. 

As a means of payment, Shiba Inu is much faster than Bitcoin and also compares favourably with its arch-rival, Dogecoin. When the Ethereum upgrades are eventually delivered, there will be no competition when it comes to transaction speeds - Bitcoin simply cannot hope to keep up. 

Supply and Demand

Whatever the technical potentials of a cryptocurrency, the same rules of investment still apply - and supply and demand is one of the biggest factors affecting price. Bitcoin is a deflationary cryptocurrency, which means it effectively becomes more scarce as time goes on.

This mechanism is enacted via the halving of the reward given to Bitcoin miners. Each time they complete a new block, miners are rewarded with BTC. The amount they are given has halved at regular intervals throughout Bitcoin’s existence. Combined with a total supply cap of 21 million coins, this means that BTC automatically creates scarcity.

When we also consider that many of those choosing to invest in Bitcoin keep their holdings for the longer term, we could reach a point where there is very little BTC in free circulation. In theory, this could have a positive effect on price.

Shiba Inu has had a somewhat unorthodox approach to supply. Developers originally outlined that there was a cap set at 1 quadrillion. However, a huge amount of the supply was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin - an act which the Shiba website describes as an act of ‘burning’.

As it stands, SHIB is said to have a circulating supply of 500 trillion. It should be pointed out that Shiba is intended to be supplied in abundance, rather than being a deflationary coin like Bitcoin. The idea here is that there will always be enough SHIB in circulation to support DeFi activity and serve as a means of value exchange. 

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Shiba vs Bitcoin: Which Is The Better Investment?

On the surface, when comparing Bitcoin vs Shiba things look a little one-sided. Despite Shiba looking to build a loyal following, Bitcoin is much, much more widely known and continues to dominate the market on a level that no other project can match.

But the crypto scene is changing. DeFi is becoming increasingly popular and it could be said that these days Bitcoin is trading on its name alone - from a technical perspective it is positively dated. 

To build an idea of how each respective tokens prices may move in future, we need to consider a few other information sources. 

Bitcoin Vs Shiba: Price History

Whether you are considering investing in Shiba or Bitcoin, one important consideration is each token’s previous price movement. By conducting a retrospective analysis, we can go some way in understanding how each token may respond to certain economic factors. 

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin has become notorious for its incredible price runs over the years. Having started trading for pennies back in 2009, BTC had already reached an impressive $1,242 per token by 2013 - a figure that is still higher than the all-time highs of most cryptocurrencies today. 

However, those new to the crypto market should be aware that Bitcoin has also had its fair share of downturns and hasn’t always held its value. For example, after hitting an impressive $19,783 in 2018, BTC then tumbled all the way down to $3,430 by the end of the year. 

Bitcoin soon regained its impressive price of just under $20k however and in 2021 things really took off. The price of Bitcoin BTC surged several times, beginning in January when it reached an impressive $40,000. In April, BTC was on the up again, this time reaching $64,804 and in November a third bull run saw it hit its all-time high of $68,530.

Read More: Bitcoin Price Predictions

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

SHIB hasn’t been on the scene for long so there isn’t much of a price history to look back over. The token launched at <$0.00000001 - an infinitesimally small number, intentionally set to allow the Shiba Inu project to flourish early on with significant growth, whilst still being a low-cost means of value exchange. 

Shiba Inu’s price movement was really nothing to write home about in the first few months - barely moving at all and never holding anything that could be considered significant value. 

However, the token benefitted from the market upswing that occurred in the first few weeks of 2021.  

In April, the value of Shiba Inu went from $0.0000001 to $0.0000036 - still a very small number but representing growth of several thousand per cent in a very short space of time. The hype surrounding DOGE seemed to benefit SHIB and in May it reached a high of $0.0000379 - a figure which again belies the fact that SHIB had actually made substantial gains. In the end of October SHIB hit its all-time high of $0.000088.

Bitcoin Vs Shiba: Future Predictions

Realistically, if you are considering investing in Shiba or Bitcoin, then price history will only be of limited interest to you. What’s more important is what we can expect from each token in the future. For these predictions, we turn to some of the industry’s leading analytical platforms.

Bitcoin (BTC)

It’s rare to find a Bitcoin price prediction that doesn’t point towards growth over the mid- to long-term. This is definitely a good thing - the original cryptocurrency is often used as an indicator of overall market health, so if things look bad for BTC then there’s every chance other tokens will also suffer. 

Looking at DigitalCoinPrice, it seems that Bitcoin is expected to have a very positive future. The platform foresees BTC reaching $50,192.85 by the end of 2023 and continue soaring in early 2024. By the end of 2024, BTC is expected to hit $55,668.82 and continue to grow well into 2025.  

Meanwhile, WalletInvestor is also very optimistic about what the next few years hold for Bitcoin. According to its technical analysis, BTC could reach a potential high of $69,846.70 by the end of 2023 before soaring to $99,879.70 by December 2024. 

Finally, the Economy Forecast Agency has one of the most optimistic Bitcoin price predictions we’ve seen. It has BTC declining in price during 2023 but then growing monthly to hit $96,541 by the end of 2024.

Check Out: Why Bitcoin Will Skyrocket

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

It’s hard for platforms to know what to make of Shiba Inu, as the project started life as a self-professed ‘Doge Killer’ but has since morphed into a full-scale DeFi project, offering a DEX and liquidity pool access. 

The approach seems to have struck a chord with Economy Forecast Agency, usually known for its more conservative price predictions. It has SHIB increasing around 15.9% before the end of 2023, reaching a trading price of $0.00002406 by December. The platform then expects Shiba to continue its growth well into 2024 and beyond. 

Elsewhere, DigitalCoinPrice is also optimistic about SHIB. It has the token creeping up throughout the rest of 2023 and early 2024, eventually hitting $0.00002875 in December of that year.

Read Also: Shiba Inu Price Predictions

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Shiba Vs Bitcoin: What The Experts Say

Expert opinions can be provide useful insight into what big business thinks of particular cryptocurrencies. Of course, there’s no shortage of opinions when it comes to Bitcoin. One of the token’s most prominent supporters has been financier Mike Novogratz. 

He says that Bitcoin is now bouncing back and big institutions are now buying BTC. He also believes that BTC will hold its value moving forward. “Every single bank is working on their own crypto project, how they can get bitcoin to their wealth clients,” Novogratz said. “I think a lot of clients that didn’t buy it the first time will see this as an opportunity to buy it and get involved.”

When it comes to SHIB, some crypto experts have been cautiously optimistic about the meme coin’s chances. “SHIB coin is a meme coin and embraces that,” says head of research and strategy at cryptocurrency exchange AAX, Ben Casin

Referring to the importance of Reddit for the growing meme coin trend, he added: “The meme coin movement rejects formalities and protocol…Hence Dogecoin started off as a joke, and the Shiba white paper is called the woofpaper.”

Casein concluded: “The hype around meme coins such as Shiba…is not a financial, but a social phenomenon.” 

Elsewhere, Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive officer at cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX has also weighed in on Shiba: “I’d be surprised if SHIB overtook DOGE, but anything can happen!”.

Shiba Vs Bitcoin: Conclusion

So, when looking at Shiba vs Bitcoin, which emerges as the better investment? Realistically, Bitcoin is still the safer option - by cryptocurrency standards at least - as there has been a lot more confidence following its 2021 success that the cryptocurrency will hold its value.

That being said, holding value isn’t what will offer investors the big returns and a token like SHIB arguably has more chance of making flash gains of hundreds of per cent - especially if any Reddit campaigns start to gather momentum.

Most savvy investors will realise at this point that a stable cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and a higher-risk outsider like SHIB actually make perfect bedfellows and would both be well placed in a diversified portfolio. 

Of course, whichever token you choose to invest in, you’ll need to pay close attention to what’s happening in the world of cryptocurrency - and for SHIB this includes keeping an eye on what’s being discussed over on Reddit. 

How To Invest In SHIB & BTC Crypto Assets

If you are looking to buy Bitcoin or Shiba Inu then the first thing you’ll need to do is find a reputable exchange that lists each token. There are literally hundreds of providers on the market but it’s crucial that you go with a trusted brand. This is why we recommend eToro - it has one of the best reputations in the industry.

Opening an account with eToro is quick and simple and, provided you are able to verify your details, you can have access to the markets within minutes. The company’s trading platform is highly intuitive and has received positive reviews from both experienced traders and those coming to the markets for the first time. 

eToro – The Best Platform To Buy Crypto Assets 

eToro have proven themselves trustworthy within the Crypto industry over many years – we recommend you try them out.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

FAQs

Bitcoin vs Shiba - which is better?

When it comes to technical particulars, it is probably true that Shiba is actually superior to Bitcoin, being a much newer token and built on the Ethereum platform. From an investment point of view, however, it’s really anyone’s guess. Bitcoin is the well-trodden path but SHIB has the potential to grow massively. 

Does Shiba have any value?

Cryptocurrencies in general have no intrinsic value but it would be unfair to dismiss SHIB as just another meme coin. The developers behind the project have quickly expanded their ‘Doge Killer’ project to include a proprietary DEX and even an artist accelerator for NFTs. With great branding and an enterprising team behind it, this project could very well have some legs. 

Where can I buy Shiba?

If you are looking to buy Shiba Inu then you might want to check out eToro. Not only is the platform one of the most trusted names in retail trading, but, more importantly, it lists SHIB for trading!

Which crypto should I buy in 2023- Shiba or Bitcoin?

Choosing between Shiba or Bitcoin will require you to think about your investment goals. If you’re new to the cryptocurrency market, then Bitcoin BTC is probably more stable and lower risk. However, if you are looking to take a punt in the hope of big returns, then Shiba SHIB could be the way to go. Alternatively, why not add both?

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