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

The current memecoin season continues to generate life-changing trading opportunities for those willing to take risks. On April 17, an anonymous wallet acquired 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, valued at $575, and sold the entire holding for 503 ETH on Tuesday, equivalent to approximately $1.17 million, as reported by the on-chain tracker Lookonchain. This transaction resulted in a return of over 2,000x in just five days. ASTEROID is an Ethereum-based memecoin themed around a Shiba Inu drawing created by Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who passed away in January 2026 after a five-year battle with the disease. Two years prior to her passing, Perrotto had sketched the dog while volunteering for SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team, with the design being inspired by Elon Musk's own Shiba Inu, Floki. The sketch was later flown on the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as the crew's zero-gravity indicator. Before her death, Perrotto had written down eight questions she hoped to ask Musk, including whether Asteroid could become SpaceX's official mascot. After her passing, her mother shared the list publicly, and media personality Glenn Beck amplified it on April 16, which eventually reached Musk and prompted him to respond with an 'ok' to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a surge in the token's market cap, rising from around $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply, and eventually exceeding $100 million in the following days with over $100 million in 24-hour trading volume. At its peak, the token briefly entered the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market cap. As of Wednesday morning, the token trades at $0.0004435, with a market cap of $186.5 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $24 million. Notably, the token lacks formal SpaceX endorsement, licensing arrangement, or confirmed involvement from Musk beyond his social media responses. It is currently traded on Uniswap against wrapped ether, with a market cap of $186.5 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $24.3 million. The price has increased by 20.69% over 24 hours, 28.54% over six hours, and has risen approximately 10x from the wallet's entry point on April 17, according to data from DEX Screener.