$575 Investment in Shiba-Inspired Token Surges to $1.17 Million in Just 5 Days

The memecoin season continues to generate life-changing trades for those willing to take risks. An anonymous investor bought 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, an Ethereum-based memecoin called 'First Shiba In Space,' for $575 on April 17. The tokens were then sold for 503 ETH on Tuesday, worth approximately $1.17 million, according to Lookonchain. This trade, which took just five days to complete, yielded a return of over 2,000x. ASTEROID is themed around a Shiba Inu drawing created by Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who passed away in January 2026. Perrotto had sketched the dog while volunteering for SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team, and the design was inspired by Elon Musk's own Shiba Inu, Floki. The ASTEROID drawing flew on the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as the crew's zero-gravity indicator. Before her passing, Perrotto had written down eight questions for Musk, including whether Asteroid could become SpaceX's official mascot. After her death, her mother shared the list publicly, and media personality Glenn Beck amplified it on April 16. The post went viral, reaching Musk, who responded with 'ok' to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a surge in the token's market cap, which rose from around $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply and eventually exceeded $100 million with over $100 million in 24-hour trading volume. At its peak, the token briefly entered the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market cap and currently trades at $0.0004435 with a $186.5 million market cap and $24 million in 24-hour volume. Although the token has no formal endorsement from SpaceX, no licensing arrangement, and no confirmed involvement from Musk beyond social media replies, it continues to trade on Uniswap against wrapped ether.