• Shiba Inu founder Kusama returns after month-long silence following community speculation
  • Shibarium bridge suffers $3 million exploit while daily transactions drop to 11,060
  • Token burn campaign stagnates with only 69,880 SHIB destroyed in 24-hour period

Shiba Inu’s 1.5 million holders face mounting challenges as the meme coin ecosystem encounters multiple risk factors ranging from leadership transparency to declining network activity.

Despite maintaining its position as the second-largest meme cryptocurrency by market capitalization, several developments have raised concerns about the project’s long-term viability.

Anonymous founder Kusama recently broke a month-long social media silence amid growing speculation that he had abandoned the project. His return coincided with a $3 million exploit targeting the Shibarium bridge, though he did not directly address the security breach in his initial communications with the community.

Network Activity and Security Issues Mount

Shibarium’s transaction volume has declined substantially since its August 2023 launch, despite initially reaching 1 billion transactions within two years. Current data shows the Layer 2 network processing fewer than 1 million daily transactions on average, with only 11,060 transactions recorded over a 24-hour period on September 17.

The network’s security vulnerabilities became apparent when attackers exploited the Shibarium bridge to extract over $3 million in funds. Developers responded by freezing staking functions to contain damage, but the incident has further undermined user confidence in the platform’s security infrastructure.

Anonymous leadership continues to create trust challenges as institutional investors and regulatory bodies typically require clear accountability from project teams. This transparency gap may explain why Shiba Inu has not attracted spot ETF applications in the United States, while competitors like Dogecoin have received multiple filings.

The project’s token burn campaign has lost effectiveness, with only 69,880 SHIB tokens destroyed in the past 24 hours. This minimal reduction appears inadequate given the remaining circulation of over 589 trillion tokens, limiting the campaign’s ability to create meaningful supply pressure.