Two meme crypto currencies now within top 10 by market value

Dogecoin ranks No. 10 with a market value of more than $35 billion, while shiba inu ranks No. 9 with a market value of more than $38 billion

Two meme crypto currencies, both inspired by shiba inu dogs, are now within the top 10 by market value.

As of Monday afternoon, dogecoin, which launched in 2013 as a joke, ranks No. 10 with a market value of more than $35 billion, according to CoinGecko. It’s currently trading at around 27 cents. A token called shiba inu, which launched in 2020, ranks No. 9 with a market value of more than $38 billion. Shiba inu hit an all-time high of $0.00008616 on Thursday.

Since Wednesday, both dogecoin and shiba inu have frequently swapped places in the rankings, competing in somewhat of a rivalry.

But although their supporters may not want to admit it, dogecoin and shiba inu have a key characteristic in common, Caitlin Cook, head of community at crypto asset management tech company Onramp Invest, tells CNBC Make It.

Both are largely driven by the communities behind them, Cook says. The dogecoin community and the shiba inu community are both very, very vocal and committed, she explains.

Altcoins like shiba inu are primarily community-based, meaning their success is largely dependent on the success and growth of its community, instead of its utility, Douglas Boneparth, certified financial planner and president of Bone Fide Wealth, previously told CNBC Make It.

The shiba inu token creator even calls it an “experiment in decentralized spontaneous community building” in its white paper.

Both shiba inu and dogecoin’s growth can be largely attributed to supporters hyping up them up, Cook says. It’s the power of the people who are amplifying it that kind of drives the performance a lot of the time, she says.

That includes celebrity supporters like billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Musk often tweets about different crypto currencies, and in doing so, has seemingly impacted their prices.

A few times throughout 2021, shiba inu appeared to jump after Musk repeatedly posted images of his shiba inu puppy on Twitter. But on Oct. 24, Musk clarified that he doesn’t own any shiba inu tokens and that he only owns bitcoin, ether and dogecoin.

But overall, the current surge is so much community-driven, and any token or coin out there has the opportunity to run up like this if someone with a big microphone is amplifying it, Cook says.