n a surprising turn of events, Shiba Inu’s newly launched layer 2 network, Shibarium, crashed just hours after its grand unveiling. This unforeseen glitch has led to mounting concerns, with approximately $2.5 million potentially trapped indefinitely.
The official Twitter account of the Shiba Inu token had proudly announced Shibarium’s launch, declaring it “officially live and ready to explore” at 11:11 pm London time on Wednesday. However, the celebration was short-lived. By 6:43 am the next morning, Shibarium had stopped producing blocks, as per data from Shibariumscan, the network’s official block explorer.
During its brief operational window, users managed to bridge a significant amount of assets to the new network – $1.8 million worth of Ether and over $700,000 of the Shiba Inu-related BONE token. The prevailing sentiment is one of anxiety, as these funds might now be inaccessible for an unforeseeable duration.
Despite the evident issues with Shibarium, some users, perhaps unaware of the situation, continue to bridge funds to the platform. This ongoing activity, combined with the network’s halt, has had a ripple effect on Shiba Inu’s associated tokens. SHIB’s value has taken a hit, dropping by 8.7% in the past 24 hours to stand at $0.00000904. Similarly, BONE, essential for transactions on Shibarium, has declined by over 15%, now hovering around $1.28.
Shiba Inu, originally a spin-off of the famed Dogecoin, has been on a mission to establish itself as more than just a meme coin. Since its inception in 2021, the project has ventured into various domains, from NFTs to mobile-based trading card games, and most recently, the Shibarium layer 2 network. The figurehead coordinating Shiba Inu’s endeavors is the pseudonymous Shytoshi Kusama, who assumed leadership after the project’s creator, known only as Ryoshi, stepped back in May 2022.
