CS4: Shiba Inu Co-Founder Russ Davis on Meme Coins, Vitalik & What's Next

<p>Live from Consensus 2026 in Miami, we're joined by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/inrusswetrustcrypto/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Russ Davis</a> - "<a href="https://inrusswetrustcrypto.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">In Russ We Trust</a>" - one of the co-founders of Shiba Inu, the meme coin that changed everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Russ tells the full story: from passing on Doge in 2016 (a decision that would've been worth $15 million), to taking over Shiba's marketing in February 2021 when it was stuck at a $2M market cap, to watching it explode to $40 billion in eight months.</p><p><br /></p><p>This episode is sponsored by FirstRead — the AI-powered legal assistant that reads, marks up, and chats through contracts right inside your Word document. If you're a founder, builder, or anyone dealing with legal agreements, FirstRead is a game-changer.</p><p>🔗 https://first-read.com/signup?ref=BEYOND2026</p><p>Use code BYNDTHECODE10 at signup for 10% off.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this episode, we cover:</p><p>- The exact post that started it all and why $100 turned into $2M</p><p>- Why most of his friends sold at $5,000 and kicked themselves in October</p><p>- Shiba Physicals — NFC-chipped collectibles and the post-NFT pivot</p><p>- The DeLorean partnership and what's dropping in Q2</p><p>- How meme coin communities actually work (and how Shiba avoided becoming a dumpster fire)</p><p>- Hopium: the Clarity Act, TradFi adoption, and the path back up</p>