What is shiba inu and where does its popularity come from?

Shiba Inu cryptocurrency reaches its maximum value 0:54

(CNN Spanish) -

A 30% increase in the last 24 hours, 100% in the last seven days and 60,000,000% accumulated so far this year.

This has been the viral advance of shiba inu, the cryptocurrency that has achieved enormous popularity in the markets.

The token, launched last year, has a market value of more than $ 33 billion, according to CoinGecko.

It was trading this Wednesday at US $ 0.00006827 (maximum), with a volume of 1,000 billion, 497 of which are in circulation.

• Shiba inu cryptocurrency price hits new high as Robinhood petition gains popularity

The logo of this cryptocurrency, a dog of the Japanese shiba inu breed, is similar to that of another virtual currency -dogecoin- and easily recognizable as a meme used on social networks.

Both were created as a joke - the so-called "memecoin" or "altcoin" - which later got serious, and are now even easier to recognize after shiba inu made a handful of investors millionaires overnight.

Bitcoin price rises above $ 50,000 0:56

But why is shiba inu cryptocurrency so popular?

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Growing interest in Wall Street and beyond

The meteoric rise of shiba inu can be explained within the general boom of cryptocurrencies, in the context that the United States has not yet made progress in its regulation, as China has done, that large investors and entrepreneurs - among them George Soros and Elon Musk- have shown their interest, and that the first investment fund linked to cryptocurrencies -ProShares Bitcoin Strategy- has been created that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of nearly $ 67,000 per unit last week, beating the previous record, set in April.

Its price has soared 50% this month, from just under $ 44,000 at the end of September.

In the shiba inu case, earlier this year, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin made headlines for donating $ 1 billion of the cryptocurrency to a covid-19 relief fund in India.

Famous people and shiba inu cryptocurrency

Elon Musk, on the other hand, is a great promoter of cryptocurrencies but has not yet focused his gaze on shiba inu.

In fact, the cryptocurrency that was born as a parody cut part of its profits after the CEO of Tesla pointed out on his Twitter account that he had only bought the currencies bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin.

How to buy cryptocurrencies in the US 6:21

Musk's tweets tend to move, in all directions, the volatile cryptocurrency markets, even generating anger and concern in the investment community in these virtual currencies.

Other personalities have not backed down because of Musk's disinterest.

Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys band and NFL star Antonio Brown are among the promoters of shiba inu.

"I think there is an incredible future for cryptocurrencies, especially knowing how they can be used for good and most importantly, to save lives," Carter told CNN, after learning about Vitalik Buterin's donation.

Carter identifies himself as a "cryptocurrency enthusiast and investor" and often tweets with the hashtags #Shiba and #ShibArmy.

While Brown told CNN that "the shiba inu business is booming and crypto is the way to go, it is a new way to invest."

Enthusiasts call for the massive purchase of bitcoins 0:50

Robinhood enters the scene

This week's dramatic increase in shiba inu coincides with increased support for a Change.org petition, which urges investment platform Robinhood to list the shiba inu currency on the site.

The petition has gathered 334,500 signatures, so far.

Robinhood began in 2018 to expand its cryptocurrency offering beyond the traditional bitcoin and ethereum, including currencies such as litecoin and bitcoin cash.

This year, the record rise of dogecoin put so much pressure on the platform's cryptocurrency trading systems that it briefly fell.

This week, it said that cryptocurrencies accounted for nearly 20% of its third-quarter transaction-based revenue, or about $ 51 million.

This represents an increase of 860% compared to the same period last year.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN Business.

Cryptocurrencies