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

The memecoin market continues to produce life-changing trades for those willing to take risks. An anonymous investor bought 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, a Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency, for $575 on April 17 and sold the entire stake for 503 ETH on Tuesday, valued at approximately $1.17 million, according to Lookonchain data. This trade, which took just five days to complete, yielded a return of over 2,000x. ASTEROID is an Ethereum-based memecoin inspired by a Shiba Inu drawing created by Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who passed away in January 2026. The design, which was inspired by Elon Musk's Shiba Inu named Floki, was taken aboard the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as a zero-gravity indicator. Before her passing, Perrotto had written down eight questions she hoped to ask 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 an 'ok' to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a surge in the token's value, with its 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, it trades at $0.0004435 with a $186.5 million market cap and $24 million in 24-hour volume. Notably, the token lacks formal SpaceX endorsement, licensing arrangement, or confirmed Musk involvement 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 investor's entry point on April 17, according to DEX Screener data.