In This Article:
Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma breaks down Elon Musk’s hand in the Shia Inu frenzy.
Video Transcript
- Welcome back. Well, the meme coin, Dogecoin, has brought attention to a particular dog breed that is its icon and that is the Shiba Inu. And Doge did spike even more today after Elon Musk tweeted that he would name a Shiba Inu "Floki". We have Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma here to break down the rise in this breeds popularity. Hi, Brooke.
BROOKE DIPALMA: Kristin, prior to the rise of this meme coin, the Shiba Inu breed really went under the radar, which as I learned, is actually a characteristic of this dog. And as you noted, Elon Musk just keeps adding to the Shiba frenzy. Earlier this morning he tweeted, "My Shiba Inu dog will be named Floki", as you noted. And so I reached out to a bunch of breeders and rescue shelters to get a sense of just how much of an interest is in the breed and to learn whether or not they're cashing in.
Shiba Inu's have undeniably become the unlikely face of 2021's crypto craze in part after the Doge father himself appeared on "SNL", he took to Twitter to announce that quote, "SpaceX was launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year." Searches for the Japanese dog breed jumped 100% in May. The Shiba craze caught the attention of two small town breeders who have been in the business for more than 30 years.
TOM ROLENAITIS: My name is Tom Rolenaitis and this is my wife, Sandy. And we're Rodel Shibas in Aspers, Pennsylvania.
SANDRA ROLENAITIS: This is a very big dog in a very small package. It can jump a four foot fence from a standstill. They cannot be off leash in an unconfined area. They're very independent.
BROOKE DIPALMA: But this Shiba craze started well before 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rolenaitis say applications spiked four to five times higher than the normal average. And with the rise in interest from Dogecoin.
SANDRA ROLENAITIS: It definitely didn't help.
TOM ROLENAITIS: Yeah, it didn't help.
SANDRA ROLENAITIS: It brought it-- It brought something to the forefront that we were a little best kept secret. And it's just, they've raised in popularity a lot because of it, yes.
BROOKE DIPALMA: The average Shiba litter is three pups. And in a typical year, the Rolenaitis' breed two litters. But since the onset of the pandemic, the couple says:
TOM ROLENAITIS: We did not breed during COVID.
BROOKE DIPALMA: If you're looking to purchase a pup, the cost is far higher than if you were looking to invest in the meme coin. The average purebred Shiba Inu cost roughly $2,500. That's a whole lot of Dogecoin. But, will the Shiba craze last?