A $575 Investment in a Shiba-Themed Token Skyrockets to $1.17 Million in Just 5 Days

The memecoin season continues to yield life-altering trades for those brave enough to take the leap. An anonymous wallet acquired 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, an Ethereum-based memecoin dubbed 'First Shiba In Space,' for $575 on April 17. The entire position was then sold for 503 ETH on Tuesday, equivalent to approximately $1.17 million, as tracked by on-chain analyzer Lookonchain. This transaction resulted in a staggering return of over 2,000x in just five days. ASTEROID is themed around a Shiba Inu drawing created by Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who unfortunately passed away in January 2026 after battling the disease for five years. Perrotto had sketched the dog during her time as a volunteer on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team, two years prior to her passing. The design, inspired by Elon Musk's own Shiba Inu, Floki, was flown on the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as the crew's zero-gravity indicator. Before her death, Perrotto had compiled a list of eight questions she hoped to ask Musk, with the final question inquiring about the possibility of Asteroid becoming SpaceX's official mascot. Following her passing, her mother shared the list publicly, which was then amplified by media personality Glenn Beck on April 16. The post quickly went viral, catching Musk's attention, who responded with a simple 'ok' to the idea of making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a significant surge in the token's value. Within hours of Musk's reply, ASTEROID's market capitalization soared from approximately $50,000 to over $20 million, and later 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 capitalization. As of Wednesday's European morning hours, it is trading at $0.0004435, with a market capitalization of $186.5 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $24 million. Notably, the token lacks formal endorsement from SpaceX, has no licensing arrangement, and no confirmed involvement from Musk beyond his social media responses. It is currently traded on Uniswap against wrapped ether, with a market capitalization of $186.5 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $24.3 million. The price has increased by 20.69% over the past 24 hours, 28.54% over six hours, and has risen roughly 10 times from the wallet's entry point on April 17, according to data from DEX Screener.