Asteroid Shiba (ASTEROID) rallied over 920% after Elon Musk publicly agreed to make a Shiba Inu plush toy the official mascot of SpaceX. The move was rooted in an emotional backstory that spread rapidly across social media.
The token is named after a stuffed Shiba Inu designed by Liv Perrotto, a 15-year-old who passed away after a five-year battle with cancer. Her plush toy, named Asteroid, flew as a zero-gravity indicator on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024.
Before she died, Perrotto had asked Musk one final question: “Can you make Asteroid the mascot for SpaceX?”
The story resurfaced online this week. When it reached Musk, he initially replied “Will answer shortly.” That alone was enough to push ASTEROID’s market cap from around $50,000 to over $20 million within hours.
Will answer shortly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2026
He then replied with a single word: “Ok.”
That confirmation sent the token higher. Over the course of one week, ASTEROID gained nearly 68,000% according to CoinGecko data. Trading volume hit $100 million in 24 hours at its peak.
On-chain data from Lookonchain showed one trader flipped roughly $1,800 in ETH into nearly $500,000 within hours of Musk’s post. Another wallet held ASTEROID for 580 days at near-zero value and saw approximately $21,000 grow to around $392,000.
This is the unluckiest guy I've ever seen!
80 days ago, trader 0x5811 spent $542 to buy 7.43B $ASTEROID.
Just one day before $ASTEROID pumped, he sold all 7.43B $ASTEROID for $405, taking a $137 loss.
Today, those 7.43B $ASTEROID are worth over $2.6M.
He missed a… pic.twitter.com/xHDPp5OD8p
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 19, 2026
Some traders turned a few hundred dollars into over $1 million in days.
Rebecca Perrotto, Liv’s mother, responded to Musk on X. “You didn’t just honor a young girl’s dream, you are keeping her spirit alive,” she wrote.
Not everyone benefited. On-chain data revealed that wallet address 0x5811 bought 7.43 billion ASTEROID tokens 80 days ago for $542. Just one day before the rally, the wallet sold the entire position for $405 — locking in a $137 loss.
Those same tokens were worth over $2.6 million the following day.
Lookonchain posted about the trade on X, calling it one of the unluckiest exits they had seen.
ASTEROID has no formal team, roadmap, or product. It has no confirmed official connection to SpaceX beyond two informal replies on social media from Musk.
At its peak, the token’s market cap crossed $100 million.
The post Asteroid Shiba (ASTEROID) Price: Musk Agrees to SpaceX Mascot Request, Token Surges 920% appeared first on CoinCentral.
