Shiba Inu (SHIB): questions and answers
Every answer below is written from the sources listed at the end of this page, with the date each one was checked.
The question that decides how you read Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu's origin story is about refusing power: an anonymous creator, no allocation, half the supply handed to a stranger. The question is what that decision actually did when the stranger acted.
Meme tokens usually fail the same way — the team holds a large share and sells it. The creator writing as Ryoshi tried to design that failure out by keeping nothing and, more unusually, sending roughly half the supply unsolicited to Vitalik Buterin's public address.
That solved one concentration problem by creating another. A single person who had never asked for the tokens now held enough to move the market by doing anything at all, including nothing.
What is still unsettled
Concentration is still the open criticism. Press coverage through the 2021 rally described very large holdings in a small number of wallets, and no independent on-chain audit settles the current picture. For an asset whose value rests on distribution and attention rather than on cash flows or protocol utility, that is the material risk rather than a footnote.
What this means when you swap SHIB
SHIB is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. That single fact covers most of what can go wrong: you need ETH in the same wallet to move it, and tokens with the same name or ticker exist on other networks as wrapped or unrelated copies. Sending a copy from another chain to an Ethereum deposit address does not deliver SHIB.
There is no memo or tag, and transfers cost whatever Ethereum gas costs at the time — which can exceed the value of a small balance during congestion. Check the contract address a service expects rather than trusting the symbol shown in a wallet list.
Common SHIB questions
- How do I swap Shiba Inu (SHIB) instantly on Monivo?
- Pick SHIB as the asset you want to receive, choose what you're paying with, paste your wallet address, and confirm. Monivo routes your order to the provider offering the best rate, and most swaps complete in under 10 minutes — no account needed.
- Can I swap SHIB with no KYC?
- Yes. Crypto-to-crypto swaps of SHIB on Monivo require no identity verification and no sign-up. Only fiat purchases (card or bank transfer) require KYC, because banks and payment processors mandate it.
- Is swapping Shiba Inu on Monivo non-custodial?
- Yes. Monivo never holds your funds. SHIB is sent directly to the wallet address you provide, so you stay in control the whole time.
- Which network does SHIB use here?
- Monivo supports Shiba Inu on the ETH network. Always double-check that your receiving wallet supports this network before confirming.
- What fees apply when I swap SHIB?
- Monivo adds zero fees on top. The quote you see already reflects the best aggregated rate across connected providers, including their network and processing costs — all fees are included in the shown amount.
- Does Shiba Inu have its own blockchain?
- No. SHIB is an ERC-20 token that settles on Ethereum, so its transfers, fees and finality are Ethereum's. Ecosystem projects have added layers and related tokens, but SHIB itself depends on Ethereum.
- Why do I need ETH to send SHIB?
- Ethereum charges transaction fees in ETH regardless of which token you are moving. A wallet holding only SHIB cannot pay for its own transfer, so keep a small ETH balance available.
- What happened when Vitalik Buterin burned SHIB in 2021?
- Roughly half the supply had been sent to his public address unsolicited at launch. In May 2021 he donated part of it to a COVID relief fund and sent about 410 trillion tokens to an address nobody controls, removing them from circulation. It was an ordinary transfer, not a protocol burn feature.
Sources and dates (7)
- The pseudonymous creator's own writing describes taking no allocation and sending half the supply to Vitalik Buterin. Ryoshi's published article · 2020-08 · reported, not independently confirmed · checked 2026-09-22
- Buterin donated more than a billion dollars of meme tokens including SHIB to a COVID relief fund. Forbes · 2021-05-12 · checked 2026-09-22
- Roughly 410 trillion SHIB were sent to an unspendable address in May 2021. Bitcoin.com News · 2021-05-17 · reported, not independently confirmed · checked 2026-09-22
- SHIB is a standard ERC-20 token deployed on Ethereum. Etherscan token page · 2020 · checked 2026-09-22
- IQ.wiki records SHIB's 2020 creation by the pseudonymous Ryoshi as an Ethereum token. IQ.wiki · reported, not independently confirmed · checked 2026-09-23
- Messari describes Shiba Inu as a community meme-token project launched on Ethereum in 2020. Messari · reported, not independently confirmed · checked 2026-09-23
- CoinGecko maintains the live SHIB market page under the Shiba Inu asset name. CoinGecko · reported, not independently confirmed · checked 2026-09-23