If you’re asking “What is Shiba Inu coin?”, welcome to the club! This relatively new crypto has seen rapid growth lately, and so has been gaining the attention of investors worldwide. You may find that it looks familiar, and you wouldn’t be wrong: this cryptocurrency uses the Shiba Inu breed of dogs as a mascot - the same as the famous Dogecoin.

Keep reading to find the answers to these questions:

• What is Shiba Inu (SHIB)
• Should you buy Shiba Inu coins
• How to buy Shiba Inu crypto
• Where to buy Shiba Inu crypto

First, the dog called Shiba Inu was used to attract millions of investors to Dogecoin (oh, the power of memes). Now, the founders of the Shiba Inu coin hope that the dog will do the same for their new cryptocurrency. Well, so far it looks like their trust in the little doge may be validated. The Shiba Inu crypto is essentially the Ethereum-based counterpart to the Srypt-based mining algorithm of Dogecoin.

According to their website, the Shiba Inu coin aims to become the “Dogecoin killer”. They're using their own decentralized exchange ShibaSwap to list it on. The Shiba Inu coin was first introduced in August 2020 by an anonymous creator. The meme coin gained momentum quite quickly, with its value growing rapidly. Investors were attracted by the cute mascot and the attention from both headlines and personalities like Elon Musk.

What makes the Shiba Inu coin unique?

Since the OG dog-themed cryptocurrency became popular, it’s inspired a swarm of others - Baby Dogecoin (BabyDoge), JINDO INU (JIND), Alaskan Malamute Token (LASM), and Alaska Inu (LAS), and so Shiba Inu (SHIB) is the latest contender. These tokens attract investors with their lesser value and the potential of repeating the Dogecoin’ pump from 0.0002 to nearly 0.75 USD.

It bears asking the question, then, what sets Shiba Inu apart from the competitors? We’ve already mentioned the technical distinction - it’s an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency. 

The other features are more… stylistic. The coin’s website invites artists from all over the world to get inspired by the mascot dog and run the “artistic Shiba movement”. This is supposed to bring the community of Shiba Inu into the NFT market. The founders of this crypto have also started an Amazon Smile campaign to gather donations for the rescue of Shiba Inu dogs in partnership with the Shiba Inu Rescue Association.

Like other altcoins, Shiba Inu is not as ubiquitously sold on major crypto exchanges as Bitcoin and the ilk. Still, you can find Shiba Inu coins on such exchanges as:

One thing to keep in mind about buying Shiba Inu coins is that SHIB can’t be purchased with fiats money, not directly anyway. The only way to do so is to first get yourself some Bitcoins or other major crypto from a fiat-to-crypto exchange, transfer them to the exchange that sells Shiba Inu, and then exchange them for SHIB. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to buy Shiba Inu crypto.

Step 1: Register on a fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange

As we’ve said, first you want to buy Bitcoin or another major cryptocurrency. Two of the most popular fiat-to-crypto exchanges are Coinbase and Uphold.com. Both have their own features and fee policies, so try them both and pick the one that suits you best.

Step 2: Buy Bitcoin

Once you finish the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process, add a payment method - either a credit / debit card or bank transfer. The former option is faster but more expensive, the latter - slower and cheaper. Finally, click the Trade button, choose Bitcoin (BTC), and confirm the transaction.

Step 3: Register on an altcoin exchange

Select an altcoin exchange that allows buying Shiba Inu coins (Binance, Gate.io, MXC, Huobi, BitForex, BitMart, HotBit, Poloniex, KuCoin, OKEx, ProBit, etc.) Go through the similar registration process as you have done before in step 1, set up 2FA authentication, and go through all stages that the exchange requires. 

Step 4: Transfer Bitcoins to the altcoin exchange

Next, you need to transfer your Bitcoins from the original exchange to the new one. You’ll be able to do so once the latter’s KYC process is finished, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several days. Once it’s done, find your wallet address in the second exchange, copy it, go to the original exchange with your Bitcoins, press Send next to Bitcoins, and paste that address into the Recipient field. 

Step 5: Buy Shiba Inu coins with Bitcoin

Go back to the second exchange and click, well, Exchange. You will see a search bar - enter Bitcoin as the first cryptocurrency in the altcoin pair. Next, type shib to find the Shiba Inu coin we’re going to buy. 

You should now see the altcoin pair SHIB/BTC - click on it to open its price chart. Enter the amount of Shiba Inu you want to buy or the portion of your Bitcoin you want to spend on buying.  Below you’ll find the Buy SHIB button - click it to finally buy Shiba Inu coins. Congratulations!