A large transfer of Shiba Inu tokens was recently tracked soon after the launch of the layer-2 Shibarium network. According to data from Whale Alert, over 4.6 trillion SHIB tokens worth approximately $38 million were moved from one unknown wallet to another unknown wallet.
This massive transfer comes just days after Shytoshi Kusama, the lead developer of Shiba Inu, posted assurances that Shibarium was now ready and secure for users. In his blog post, Kusama acknowledged initial technical difficulties with Shibarium’s launch, including around $1.8 million in Ethereum being stuck on the network’s bridge. However, he credited Polygon’s team for providing support and resources to ensure a successful resolution, stating that forking Polygon had been the right decision.
Kusama’s positive messaging regarding Shibarium’s security follows the large SHIB transfer. This may suggest confidence is building around the new layer 2 despite its rocky launch.
Early Activity on Shibarium Shows Room to Grow
According to data from the Shibarium Explorer, there are currently over 73,000 daily transactions and nearly 900,000 active addresses on the network. Activity hit a peak on August 25th with more than 130,000 transactions recorded. However, with utilization sitting at only 33 percent, the total value locked (TVL) on Shibarium is still low at $1.23 million.
This TVL is negligible compared to the $37 billion in decentralized finance (DeFi) overall, indicating Shibarium remains in its very early stages. Of the nine protocols built on Shibarium so far, DogSwap is the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) by far with a TVL above $687,000.
In summary, while daily transactions are scaling upwards of 73,000 and addresses near 1 million, Shibarium has substantial room for growth given its nascent $1.23 million TVL and peak traffic to date of 130,000 transactions on August 25th. DogSwap leads platforms on Shibarium currently with a TVL of over $687,000.
New SHIB Listings Suggest Ongoing Speculator Interest
Additionally, new perpetual swap contract listings for SHIB keep emerging on exchanges like BitMEX. On August 29th, BitMEX announced it was launching SHIB/USD and SHIB/USDT perpetual contracts with up to 33x leverage available.
Perpetuals allow traders to speculate on asset prices without expiry. However, they carry substantial risk if used irresponsibly.
SHIB is currently trading down 2.42% at $0.0000076 amidst a broader crypto decline attributed to the SEC delaying a Bitcoin ETF decision. This sell-off impacted many major digital assets.
In summary, new highly leveraged perpetual swap listings continue to surface for SHIB, like BitMEX’s 33x contracts. But perpetuals come with sizeable risk despite allowing speculation without expiry dates. SHIB is down today likely due to the SEC’s Bitcoin ETF delay rattling wider crypto markets.
Let me know if you would like me to modify or expand this draft article further. I aimed to cover the key details around the large SHIB transfer, activity on the new Shibarium network, and the ongoing speculative interest suggested by new perpetual swap listings.
