Back in 2021, at the height of the meme coin bull run

Back in 2021, at the height of the meme coin bull run, Shiba Inu ran over 7,000,000%

At the peak of the 2021 meme coin bull market, Shiba Inu (SHIB) codeveloped astronomically, surging more than 7,000,000% to outpace even the more established Dogecoin (DOGE). This performance was fueled by the narrative that Shiba Inu was the “Dogecoin killer,” with the meme coin eventually set to flip DOGE and become the leading meme coin.

However, with the passage of time, both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have declined, with their prices falling over 80% from their all-time highs. Above all, Shiba Inu has failed to actually topple Dogecoin, with the SHIB market cap remaining well below that of DOGE. But as the market inches toward what is expected to be another bull market, the question now is, is it still possible for Shiba Inu to overtake Dogecoin as the number 1 meme coin?

Crypto exchange-traded product (ETF) approvals by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been the major driver behind this bull run. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have already gotten the green light, so attention has shifted to other altcoins. XRP, Solana, Litecoin, and Dogecoin have been the favorites, while the likes of Shiba Inu have been nowhere to be found, despite constant push from the SHIB community.

For example, there have been four filings for Dogecoin ETFs from Bitwise, Grayscale, Osprey Fund, and 21Shares. The decision for the first of these applications, which is the Grayscale Dogecoin ETF, is expected to happen on May 21, which is only a month from now.

The meme coin magic continues with @Grayscale's application for a Dogecoin trust ETF, set to be decided by the SEC on 21/05.

This follows the recent approval of the first Bitcoin futures ETF back in 2021, which sparked a rally in the market.

May the memes be with us.

— The Token Union (@TokenUnion_) April 26, 2024

Meanwhile, there have been no official filings for a Shiba Inu ETF, despite the SHIB team giving reasons why it should be. Lucie, the Shiba Inu marketing lead, explained in an X (formerly Twitter) post that SHIB is a good candidate for an ETF being listed on over 110 exchanges and 212 trading pairs. “It’s basically everywhere: easy to access, easy to trade,” Lucie argued.

Another major metric where Dogecoin continues to outperform Shiba Inu is in terms of interest. While open interest has waned across the board, DOGE’s open interest remains significantly higher than that of SHIB.

CoinGlass’s latest data shows that the Dogecoin open interest is still sitting at about $1.5 billion, while the Shiba Inu open interest is still at $131 million.

This suggests that crypto traders are more interested in DOGE compared to SHIB, and with meme coins being driven by interest, it suggests that DOGE would continue to be ahead of SHIB.