Shiba Inu Coin Craze Is Driving Demand for—What Else?—Shiba Inu Puppies

With virtual life increasingly indistinguishable from everyday reality, it makes sense: Just as the price of dog-inspired cryptocurrencies Dogecoin and Shiba Inu coin have exploded, so has demand for—what else?—living, breathing shiba inus.

While Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency created from a meme back in 2013 using the image of a shiba inu, enjoyed a burst of popularity this summer, it was recently overtaken in market value by the slightly less creatively named Shiba Inu coin. In classic crypto style, it sounds like a joke but is immensely valuable, with investors pushing up its price almost 800% in the past month, even though a coin still costs a tiny fraction of a cent.