Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu: Elon Musk tweets ancient Chinese poem on cryptocurrency spat

Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu: Elon Musk tweeted an ancient Chinese poem about two brothers who fight out of jealousy, in what some Twitter users said could be an oblique reference to the Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu cryptocurrency spat. The tweet, posted Tuesday by the world’s richest man, was titled “Humankind,” followed by the poem in Chinese. 

Known as the “Quatrain of Seven Steps,” the allegorical poem is often attributed to Cao Zhi, a member of Chinese royalty who lived between 192 and 232. Legend goes that Cao’s older brother, freshly crowned king and suspicious his more popular brother is trying to usurp his rule, forced him to produce a poem that would proclaim his innocence.   

Translated, the poem reads:

“Beanstalks are ignited to boil beans

The beans in the pot cry out 

We are born of the same root

Why should we incinerate each other with such impatience?”

Some online commentators pointed to the rivalry between cryptocurrencies Dogecoin and Shiba Inu to explain the tweet from Musk, who frequently advocates for Dogecoin on social media. The newer Shiba Inu token -- another meme coin that appears to have been inspired by its canine-themed cousin -- has overtaken Dogecoin in market value, and proponents of the tokens have been sniping at each other about the situation.

While Elon Musk’s intention in tweeting the poem isn’t clear, his Twitter feed contains an eclectic mix of cryptocurrency memes, links to Monty Python sketches and updates on Tesla Inc.’s self-driving software and SpaceX launches. 

In China, Tesla has been bouncing back from a run of bad publicity earlier this year that included consumer complaints, crashes and regulatory scrutiny of safety and customer service issues. In September, shipments of China-made Teslas to the local market rose for a second straight month even as general auto sales declined. 

Shiba Inu passes Dogecoin as top "dog" in cryptocurrency

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Cryptocurrency has officially gone to the dogs.

The recent trading frenzy over a digital token called Shiba Inu — commonly billed as a “meme” or joke coin — has vaulted the canine-themed cryptocurrency into the top ten most valuable digital assets by market value, hitting $40 billion and surpassing its cousin and apparent inspiration, Dogecoin.

Shiba was up another 10% at midday on Monday and has doubled in value in the past week. Most of that gain came in a flurry of trading last Wednesday, when it gained a whopping 66%.

Even with its recent meteoric rise — it's up about 900% in the past month — each Shiba coin costs just a tiny fraction of one cent. If you bought $1,000 worth of Shiba in late September, your 20 million coins would now be worth around $9,000.

Like most cryptocurrencies, Shiba is not commonly used for commercial transactions and is considered by most experts and investors to be a high-risk, speculative bet due to the broader volatility of the crypto market. Experts warn that investors need to be cautious about putting money into something with anonymous leadership that appears to have little functional use.