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

The memecoin season continues to generate life-changing trades for those willing to take risks. An anonymous investor bought 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens, an Ethereum-based memecoin known as 'First Shiba In Space,' for $575 on April 17 and sold the entire position for 503 ETH on Tuesday, worth approximately $1.17 million, according to on-chain tracker Lookonchain. This five-day trade resulted in 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. Two years prior to her death, Perrotto sketched the dog while volunteering on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team. The design, inspired by Elon Musk's Shiba Inu named Floki, flew 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, 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, reached Musk, and he responded with 'ok' to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This response sparked the token's growth, with ASTEROID's market cap increasing from roughly $50,000 to over $20 million within hours of Musk's reply and eventually surpassing $100 million over the following days on more than $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. The token has no formal SpaceX endorsement, no licensing arrangement, and no confirmed Musk involvement beyond the social media replies. It trades on Uniswap against wrapped ether with a market cap of $186.5 million and 24-hour trading volume of $24.3 million. The price is up 20.69% over 24 hours, 28.54% over six hours, and has climbed about 10x from the wallet's entry point on April 17, according to DEX Screener data.