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

The season of memecoins continues to yield life-changing trades for adventurous investors. An anonymous wallet acquired 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, a Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency, for $575 on April 17. The entire stake was sold for 503 ETH on Tuesday, equivalent to approximately $1.17 million, as tracked by on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain. This rapid transaction, which took only five days to complete, resulted in a staggering return of over 2,000x. ASTEROID, an Ethereum-based memecoin dubbed 'First Shiba In Space,' was inspired by a drawing created by Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who sadly 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. The design, which drew inspiration from Elon Musk's own Shiba Inu named Floki, was flown on the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as the crew's zero-gravity indicator. Before her demise, Perrotto had penned down eight questions she hoped to ask Musk, with the final one inquiring whether Asteroid could become SpaceX's official mascot. Following her passing, her mother shared the list publicly, which was subsequently amplified by media personality Glenn Beck on April 16. The post quickly went viral, reaching Musk, who responded with an 'ok' to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. Musk's response triggered a surge in the token's value. The market capitalization of ASTEROID skyrocketed from approximately $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply and later surpassed $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 morning, it trades at $0.0004435, boasting 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 has no confirmed involvement from Musk beyond his social media responses. It is traded on Uniswap against wrapped ether, with its market capitalization standing at $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 approximately 10x from the wallet's entry point on April 17, according to data from DEX Screener.