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The Shiba Inu (SHIB) coin started 2026 with a bang, and the numbers do not lie. The monthly returns table shows the meme coin at plus 28.6% for January, making it the best January performance since 2023, as per CryptoRank, when it soared by 46.2% and reminded everyone what a meme coin looks like when it takes off.
The market cap chart makes the move feel less like a vibes rally and more like a steady reevaluation. In the last 24 hours, SHIB's valuation climbed out of the mid-$4.5 billion range and last marked around $5.17 billion, with an intraday high near 5.30 billion.
The headline "$600 million added" is more than just a figure — it is the gap the chart is drawing in public.
Shiba Inu price's anti-history
What makes this stand out is how anti-history it is for the Shiba Inu coin. The same grid shows that January has been a red month more often than not for SHIB, with a loss of 10.9% in 2025, 13.4% in 2024 and 36% in 2022.
Meanwhile, the median January result is a loss of 10.9%, which is basically the market's default setting for this coin at the start of the year.
That is why this January is so important. The good news is that if SHIB can keep the market cap above $5 billion, it will be seen as more than just a one-day spike and will become the baseline for Q1.
The bearish version is also simple: fast green months mean fast profit-taking, and the first stress test is whether the next pullback gets bought without giving back that 5 billion line.
Gamza Khanzadaev
Tomiwabold Olajide
Arman Shirinyan