The second-largest memecoin project, Shiba Inu, is striving to advance with new developments. Shiba Inu’s marketing leader Lucie recently announced plans for a new Layer-3 blockchain network and several new tokens, signaling a shift towards a more significant ecosystem. Despite various development efforts, SHIB has underperformed compared to other memecoin projects.
New Step from the Shiba Inu Team
This initiative follows the report that Shiba Inu received a $12 million investment in April specifically for this new Layer-3 platform. Various reports indicate that fundraising rounds have reached valuations of up to $200 million. Lucie emphasized the expansion and also mentioned two upcoming tokens:
“SHIB, LEASH, BONE, SHEB, Shiboshis, ShibtheMV, and soon: TREAT and SHI offer endless possibilities for innovative decentralized applications within our ecosystem. One of the most exciting upcoming developments will be our own Layer-3 network.”
According to Lucie, the upcoming Layer-3 blockchain network built on the existing Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain network Shibarium will integrate Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). This encryption will allow developers to securely process data without needing to decrypt it, in collaboration with the open-source cryptography firm Zama.
These developments come as Shiba Inu attempts to bring real-world utility. In December 2023, a Shiba Inu developer named Shytoshi Kusama shared a vision to move beyond memecoin projects. However, this rapid expansion has been met with criticism from some community members. Concerns have been raised about the speed and scope of development. A community member shared the following thoughts:
“Our biggest problem is this: jumping to another thing without finishing one. What is Layer-3 before finishing Layer-2? Finish the work at hand first.”
What’s Happening on the SHIB Front?
Lucie’s announcements come at a critical time when Shiba Inu is still about 80% below its all-time highs. Since the beginning of the year, Shiba Inu has increased by 65%. However, new memecoin projects like Pepe (PEPE), Dogwifhat (WIF), and Bonk (BONK) continue to outperform SHIB.
Community sentiment is a mix of anticipation for new developments and frustration with current strategies. Another frustrated community member expressed the following:
“That’s why I turned to Bonk. Shiba Inu took on 30 tokens when it could have just worked on SHIB. Developer tokens won’t burn, and there won’t be any increase in automatic burns.”
