Floki (FLOKI) explained: a comprehensive guide to the Shiba Inu competitor

Floki (FLOKI) explained: a comprehensive guide to the Shiba Inu competitor 

Inspired by Elon Musk’s pet dog, Floki is a memecoin that’s become popular in the last few years. Most memecoins started as playful tokens without much meaning, and few have gone on to survive and create a positive impact like Dogecoin. How will FLOKI fair?

Floki Inu calls itself the “people’s cryptocurrency,” with a serious ecosystem and community backing it. It's guided by a three-pillar structure that goes beyond its memecoin status. 

So how did Floki originate, and what purpose does it serve in the crypto space? Read on to learn more about its history, underlying technology, utility, and philosophy. 

History of Floki

Floki is tied very closely to internet meme culture and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk. In June 2021, Musk adopted a Shibu Inu dog and named it “Floki.” At the time, a memecoin was created almost every day around internet memes. And so, almost inevitably, Musk’s adoption prompted the creation of the Floki asset, which initially was just another memecoin without any utility. 

However, over time, Floki has evolved to become a cryptocurrency underpinned by a vibrant Web3 ecosystem. It was created by an unknown team of developers who abandoned the project after a few months. Prominent crypto personalities such as Sabre and Mr. Brown Whale took over and kept the project going. They created a DAO where the future of Floki is decided by its community. 

Tokenomics and distribution

Floki is a dual-chain cryptocurrency with a supply of 10 trillion tokens. It operates on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). 

While the supply is massive, the community has set up automatic and manual deflationary systems. However, nearly 5 trillion tokens were already burnt in February 2023 on the Floki cross-chain bridge. On top of that, the community regularly votes to buy back and burn FLOKI tokens from the market. As many as 200 billion FLOKI tokens were burnt after a recent vote. The burning of FLOKI tokens is baked into the ecosystem at a contract level, for multiple interactions. For example, when using Floki’s DeFi platform, FlokiFi, only 75% of the fee goes to the treasury. The remaining 25% of the fee is used to buy FLOKI tokens and burn them automatically. 

Buying and selling FLOKI incurred a 3% transaction tax, which was recently reduced to 0.3% through a DAO vote. This money goes to the core team, which aims to eventually eliminate these taxes. There's no transaction tax for bridging, though.

Pillars of Floki

The Floki community has set three core pillars, which help guide its direction and purpose: community, utility, and charity. 

Community

Floki understands that it started as a memecoin and wants to embrace this status. Floki sees the people who embraced the coin as the most important part of its ecosystem. The DAO wants to keep its community engaged, while growing it simultaneously through various community activities and memes. 

Utility

While Floki's memecoin status is important, the community wants to offer value to its users. They’ve successfully launched and are funding various NFT, DeFi, and metaverse projects that use FLOKI tokens. Read on for a deeper understanding of FLOKI’s utility. 

Charity

Starting with the original dog-themed memecoin DOGE, charity has always been important. The Floki community also embraces its philanthropic side to help those in need. The project’s charity initiatives include support for schools in underdeveloped countries such as Guatemala, Ghana, Laos, and Nigeria. The project’s goal is to establish schools for the underprivileged on every continent. 

What can Floki be used for?

Floki has a thriving ecosystem of projects that use FLOKI tokens. 

Valhalla

Valhalla is a play-to-earn NFT metaverse game powered by the FLOKI token. Users must hold a certain amount of FLOKI tokens in their wallet to make their characters playable. Players can perform various actions such as battle, farm, and raid to earn FLOKI tokens. In addition, players get complete ownership of their in-game assets, which they’re free to sell at any time. 

FlokiFi

FlokiFi is the next major project created by the Floki community. It's a range of DeFi projects that'll be launched under the Floki brand. The first product is FlokiFi Locker, an on-chain protocol for securing digital assets such as liquidity pool (LP) tokens, NFTs, and more. 25% of the fee generated by FlokiFi is used to buy and then burn FLOKI tokens. 

University of Floki

The community has created a crypto education platform to onboard the next billion users, while creating awareness for the FLOKI token. Education happens both through live classes in virtual environments and through the release of asynchronous materials. While most courses will be free, some will require students to hold FLOKI tokens. 

Floki prepaid cards

Floki has partnered with FCF Pay to offer virtual prepaid debit cards. Floki users can generate virtual cards on both Visa and Mastercard networks and fund them through FLOKI tokens. Once the card is generated, it can be used online and offline through Apple Pay and Google Pay. The project also has plans to launch physical cards later this year. 

Flokiplaces

Flokiplaces is the community’s solution for buying and selling NFTs and physical merchandise. For now, users can buy the official Floki merchandise and have it shipped worldwide. The next phase is to implement NFT trading with FLOKI as a payment option. 

Floki vs Shiba Inu

Floki is a cryptocurrency inspired by the Shiba Inu project, and the two share many similarities. They’re both memecoins created by the community due to Elon Musk’s love for Dogecoin and have extremely high token supplies. Floki minted 10 trillion tokens, while Shiba Inu created 589 trillion tokens. However, both deal with their supplies in different ways. Floki burnt half of its supply with the creation of its bridge. Meanwhile, Shiba Inu’s creators sent half the number of tokens to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (Buterin burned 90% of the tokens received and donated the remaining 10% to charitable organizations).

Both communities embrace their memecoin status and charitable support. However, they have different ecosystems. Being the older coin, Shiba Inu is backed by a well-developed Web3 ecosystem with its own decentralized exchange, ShibaSwap, and a Layer 2 blockchain. Floki is developing towards similar goals, while also developing games and other projects where users can use their tokens. 

How to buy Floki?

With its wide reach and acceptance, Floki is now listed on most major exchanges. Read on to understand how to buy FLOKI on OKX. 

Buying Floki on OKX

Step 1: Create an account on OKX.

Step 2: Once you’re logged in and verified, you’re now ready to buy FLOKI. Head over to “Buy crypto” in the top menu bar and select “Express buy.” You can choose from the other options if you want. 

Step 3: In the first box, set your preferred currency to pay with and in the second box, type “FLOKI.”

Step 4: Type in the amount of FLOKI you want to buy or the amount of paying currency you want to spend. The other value is calculated automatically depending on the market price. 

Step 5: Select “Buy FLOKI.”

Step 6: Choose your payment method. The options include P2P, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, and Mastercard from various providers. 

Step 7: Go through the steps shown for the payment method of your choice. Once the payment is confirmed, the FLOKI tokens will arrive in your OKX account. 

Buying Floki on the OKX mobile app

The OKX mobile application is another convenient way to buy and sell FLOKI from anywhere.

Step 1: Download the OKX mobile app for iOS or Android, depending on your device. 

Step 2: Sign in to your OKX account. If you don't already have an account, select ‘Sign up’ and follow the steps. 

Step 3: Once you’re registered, select the OKX menu from ‌the top-left corner and then choose ‘Buy’ under ‘Manage assets.’

Step 4: Search for “Floki” and enter the amount of FLOKI you want to buy. 

Step 5: Select your payment method and follow the instructions for the payment method you choose. 

Step 6: Once the payment is successful, your FLOKI should be ready and available to trade in your account

Choosing a Floki wallet

The OKX exchange is a convenient and secure place to store your FLOKI tokens once you’ve purchased them. However, you might want to transfer them to a wallet if you want to interact with DApps like Valhalla and FlokiFi. 

OKX provides a highly secure and multi-chain OKX Web3 Wallet with all OKX accounts. It can safely store FLOKI or any other cryptocurrency for as long as needed. It can also be used on Ethereum and BSC chains where FLOKI is available.

The final word

Floki has shown that it’s more than just a fun memecoin. While having fun with the community is still a core principle, Floki has diversified to utility and charity with the help of its supporters. 

Everything that’s accomplished is done by and for the Floki community. With an extensive roadmap and an innovative spirit, FLOKI is marching towards wider acceptance and adoption. Although the token’s supply is massive, the project’s commitment to periodic buy and burns helps to preserve the asset’s value.    Meanwhile, some products in the ecosystem even have burn mechanisms built into them. 

With a strong community, many expect that Floki has a long life ahead of it — possibly becoming a major rival to Shiba Inu or the more popular Dogecoin.