The cryptocurrency market has witnessed a significant shift in the market capitalization of meme coins, with Shiba Inu (SHIB) surpassing Cardano (ADA) in terms of total value. According to CoinMarketCap, the current market capitalization of SHIB stands at $16.9 billion, while ADA is valued at $16.5 billion. This development is a testament to the growing popularity and trust in SHIB among investors.

In the last 24 hours, the price of SHIB has seen a remarkable surge of over 16%, outperforming other major cryptocurrencies. This surge has been mirrored by other smaller meme coins, such as Solana-based dogwifhat (WIF), which has seen a surge of 21.4%. Other coins like Floki (FLOKI) and Bonk (BONK) have also recorded double-digit gains. Even Pepe, which has seen a relatively modest increase of 1.1%, has still added 18% over the past week.

The recent price surge of SHIB is a significant development, as it briefly surpassed DOGE in market capitalization in October 2021. However, there is currently a $7 billion gap between the two rival meme coins, making it uncertain whether SHIB will be able to repeat this achievement this year. Despite the recent price surge, SHIB is still down 66% from its peak on Oct. 28, 2021. Nevertheless, data from IntoTheBlock shows that 70% of SHIB holders are making money at current prices, with the majority (76%) having owned the cryptocurrency for more than a year. This suggests that the recent price surge has been driven by a combination of new investors and existing holders who are seeing their investments grow in value.