Dogecoin or Shiba Inu (SHIB) for February? Meme Coin Price History Reveals 397% Imbalance

In the world of meme coins, Dogecoin might still have the original fanbase, but when it comes to February’s performance, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is leaving DOGE in the dust.

CryptoRank’s historical return data shows an unexpected but consistent divergence: while Dogecoin has averaged negative returns in February at -2.33%, Shiba Inu has delivered a solid average of +9.26% since 2021. That is a 397% imbalance between the two coins in this particular month.

In 2024, SHIB surged by 41.3% in February, while DOGE took a nosedive of almost 39%. In 2023, the former stayed green again, while the latter lost 16%. Even in 2022, when everyone was getting nervous and avoiding risk, SHIB went up by 20.3%, while DOGE dropped by 6.05%.

Three years in a row with the same outcome — SHIB has never had a worse February than DOGE since its existence. Not once.

DOGE and SHIB are no longer playing same game

The 21Shares Dogecoin ETF (TDOG) launched earlier this week, and it has even further established DOGE into a beta proxy for Nasdaq flows. Grayscale trust products and 2x leveraged DOGE vehicles are drawing in institutional capital and reducing volatility.

Dogecoin has become a meme in name only, mirroring regulated index plays and becoming rather a “safe haven” meme asset. Shiba Inu, on the other hand, is still what DOGE used to be: speculative and unregulated.

And in February, that profile pays off.

SHIB’s seasonal anomaly — a pattern of post-January decoupling and double-digit rallies — shows a regular liquidity rotation into high-beta outperformers. Based on historical heatmaps, there is a good chance that if the fractal persists, Shiba Inu will have a 15-20% lead.

So, as February nears, things are looking pretty clear for major meme coins: Dogecoin offers ETF stability, but the Shiba Inu coin has a seasonal advantage.