A $575 bet on a Shiba-themed token became $1.17 million in 5 days

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email A $575 bet on a Shiba-themed token became $1.17 million in 5 days An anonymous wallet bought 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens for $575 on April 17 and exited Tuesday for 503 ETH, worth $1.17 million, in one of the year's cleanest memecoin trades. By Shaurya Malwa | Edited by Omkar Godbole Updated Apr 22, 2026, 12:18 p.m. Published Apr 22, 2026, 8:41 a.m. Make preferred on What to know : An anonymous trader turned a $575 purchase of 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens into roughly $1.17 million in five days, a gain of more than 2,000 times the initial stake. ASTEROID, an Ethereum-based memecoin themed on a Shiba Inu drawing by late cancer patient Liv Perrotto, surged after Elon Musk replied "ok" to making the character SpaceX's official mascot. Despite a market value around $186.5 million and heavy trading on Uniswap, the ASTEROID token has no formal ties to SpaceX or St. Jude and no verified mechanism directing proceeds to charity or Perrotto's family. Memecoin season keeps printing life-changing trades for people willing to take a shot. An anonymous wallet bought 2.79 billion ASTEROID tokens for $575 on April 17 and sold the entire position for 503 ETH on Tuesday, worth roughly $1.17 million, according to on-chain tracker Lookonchain. The round trip took five days and produced a return of more than 2,000x. ASTEROID is an Ethereum-based memecoin branded as "First Shiba In Space." It is themed after a Shiba Inu drawing by Liv Perrotto , a teenage cancer patient who died in January 2026 after a five-year battle with the disease. Two years before her death, Perrotto sketched the dog while serving as a volunteer on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn ground support team. The design, inspired by Musk's own Shiba Inu named Floki, flew on the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 as the crew's zero-gravity indicator. Liv’s Asteroid drawing that went to space with the @polarisprogram came today! They also took a special letter she got at Camp Cadet to space for her too. What an incredible gift! ❤️🚀🌎 @spacex @rookisaacman @kiddpoteet @annawmenon @gillis_sarahe pic.twitter.com/Vv0jbRN0oZ — Rebecca Perrotto (@rebeccaperrotto) March 17, 2025 Before she passed, Perrotto had written down eight questions she hoped to ask Musk. The final one asked whether Asteroid could become SpaceX's official mascot. Her mother shared the list publicly after her death, and media personality Glenn Beck amplified it on April 16. The post went viral, reached Musk, and he said “ok” in response to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. That response ignited the token. ASTEROID's market cap ran from roughly $50,000 to more than $20 million within hours of Musk's reply, then pushed past $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 European morning hours on Wednesday, 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. 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. 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