Coinbase Adds Support for Shiba Inu, Meme Coin Soars

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced it supports meme coin Shiba Inu for users. Coinbase customers can now trade Shiba Inu on Coinbase.com as well as the company’s mobile apps on iOS and Android.

Earlier this month, Coinbase listed Shiba Inu on its professional trading platform, Coinbase Pro, an addition that was initially announced in June but was delayed due to a technical glitch.

Shiba Inu is an Ethereum based decentralized meme token. It was created as an alternative to fellow meme coin Dogecoin, whose mascot is a Shiba Inu, a Japanese dog breed.

We are happy to announce that $SHIB is now officially live and listed on @coinbase and the Coinbase App. https://t.co/8BPSSKMHI6

— Shib (@Shibtoken) September 16, 2021

The Shiba Inu community cheered the move, sending the cryptocurrency soaring more than 20% in the last 24-hour period to $0.000008299. Trading volume in SHIB/USD was $243 million at last check based on CoinMarketCap data.

The Shiba Inu team is famous for gifting Vitalik Buterin with a large chunk of the Shib supply, which the Ethereum co-founder then sent to a charity.

Elon Musk Bump

Shiba Inu investors also recently celebrated when Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is a known Dogecoin fan, posted a picture of a new puppy, a Shiba Inu. Musk said in June that his “Shiba Inu will be named Floki,” which is the name of a boat builder character in the Vikings series on The History Channel.

Floki has arrived pic.twitter.com/2MiUKb91FT

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2021

Musk’s big reveal captured the attention of the Dogecoin team, which tweeted in response that his “doge is shaped somewhat like a small bean.” The Doge price is currently trading more than 3% lower at $0.2375. On social media, Dogecoin investors tout the $1 threshold as a target price for the meme coin.   

Source: Twitter

Coinbase Moves

Coinbase announced the Shiba Inu listing in the face of regulatory scrutiny. The company is doing battle with the U.S. SEC over a lending product it wants to launch in October. Regulators have warned Coinbase that if it follows through with its plans, the SEC is prepared to sue.

In addition, Coinbase has started the process to begin trading cryptocurrency derivatives. The company has filed an application with the National Futures Association, which if approved would put it under the regulatory oversight of the CFTC. Coinbase would be joining the likes of the CME, which currently supports futures trading in bitcoin and Ethereum.