[Digital Today reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] If you invested $10,000 (about 15.5 million won) in Shiba Inu around 2021, the value now appears to be less than $500 (about 770,000 won).

The Crypto Basic, a blockchain outlet, reported on June 29 (local time) that the value of holdings for an investor who bought Shiba Inu at its 2021 peak of $0.00008854 would fall to about $469 at the current price of $0.00000416. The loss rate exceeds 95 percent of the principal.

Shiba Inu currently trades at $0.00000416, down 90.8 percent from this bull market’s peak of $0.0000456 recorded in March 2024. It is also down 87.5 percent from the December 2024 peak of $0.00003345.

A $10,000 investment at the all-time high (ATH) in 2021 would amount to about 112.94 million SHIB. At current prices, that is worth only $469 (about 720,000 won), showing meme coin investors have endured large losses for a long period after buying at the top.

Shiba Inu keeps the No. 2 market-cap spot in the meme coin segment, but its price has been sluggish for an extended period. When the meme coin boom peaked in October 2021, Shiba Inu’s market value swelled to $54.22 billion. It was unusual for a token that started as a meme to reach that scale, but it has since continued trading at prices far below that record.

Views in the market are mixed on Shiba Inu’s rebound potential. Analyst MMB Trader said Shiba Inu would soon show a strong upward rally. Citing a long, dull accumulation phase and the possibility of breaking out of a falling channel, he pointed to $0.0000202. That would be a 385 percent rebound from current levels and matches a price zone seen in January 2025. Celal Kucuker also saw Shiba Inu rising to $0.000070, more than 10 times the current price.

Others in the market remain skeptical. James Wynn recently called Shiba Inu an “already dead token and a boring token” and said it would not recover its price.

A large circulating supply is cited as a backdrop to the bearish view. For a meaningful price rise, steady demand is needed, along with token burns and expanded ecosystem activity. An investor who bought at the October 2021 peak would need Shiba Inu to return to $0.00008854 to recover the $10,000 principal. That would require a 2,028 percent rise from the current price.

Shiba Inu has previously risen 420 percent, from $0.00000878 in June 2023 to $0.0000456 in March 2024, but there is no guarantee such a track record will repeat this time.

Ultimately, whether Shiba Inu recovers depends on whether broader crypto market conditions, renewed interest in meme coins, ecosystem expansion and sustained demand can align. For now it retains its status as a leading meme coin, but it is being confirmed that buyers at the top would need inflows at a different level than in the past to recoup losses.