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

The season of memecoins continues to produce life-changing trades for adventurous investors. An anonymous wallet purchased 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, valued at $575, on April 17 and then sold the entire stake for 503 ETH, equivalent to approximately $1.17 million, as reported by on-chain tracker Lookonchain. This transaction, which took place over a period of five days, yielded an impressive return of over 2,000x. ASTEROID is an Ethereum-based memecoin, branded as 'First Shiba In Space,' inspired by a Shiba Inu drawing created by the late Liv Perrotto, a teenage cancer patient who passed away in January 2026. The drawing was conceived two years prior to her passing, during her time as a volunteer on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team, and 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 a list of eight questions she hoped to ask Elon Musk, including whether Asteroid could become SpaceX's official mascot. Following her passing, her mother shared the list publicly, and it was amplified by media personality Glenn Beck on April 16. The post went viral, reaching Musk, who responded with an 'ok,' indicating his willingness to make Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a significant surge in the token's value, with its market capitalization rising from approximately $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply, and later exceeding $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, 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 has no confirmed involvement from Musk beyond his social media responses. It is 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 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.