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

The season of memecoins continues to generate 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 reported by the on-chain tracker Lookonchain. This transaction, which took just five days to complete, yielded a return of over 2,000x. ASTEROID is 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. Perrotto had sketched the dog while volunteering for SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team two years prior to her death. The design, inspired by 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 passing, Perrotto had written down eight questions she hoped to ask Musk, with the final one inquiring 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 replied with an 'ok' in response to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked a surge in the token's value. ASTEROID's market capitalization soared from roughly $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply and eventually exceeded $100 million in the following days, with 24-hour trading volumes surpassing $100 million. At its peak, the token briefly entered the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. As of Wednesday morning in Europe, 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 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 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.