As of October 2023, Shiba Inu reigns as the second-largest memecoin by market cap. It is preparing for a significant network upgrade to its Layer-2 network, Shibarium, in June 2025. This release comes amidst a wider market crash for crypto. The move is seemingly the latest step by the company to reinforce its presence in the growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. The entire Shiba Inu ecosystem has a larger market capitalization of around $7-8 billion. With a circulating supply of just under 589 trillion SHIB, it relentlessly chases after long-term growth and deflationary moves. The Shiba Inu development team is hard at work troubleshooting Shibarium and working to make the platform more useful and user-friendly.
Shibarium Upgrade and Network Enhancements
The soon-to-be-released upgrade to Shibarium is another important part of the Shiba Inu teams overall strategy to make their network more powerful. The upgrade aims to solve the challenges of today and equip our ecosystem with a more powerful platform for the next generation of DeFi and NFT projects.
"optimize the distribution of network validator nodes, resolve transaction congestion issues, and provide more stable support for DeFi and NFT projects" - Shytoshi Kusama
Improvements to shibarium central to the improvement of spreading out the allocation of network validator nodes and addressing shibarium congestion, said Shytoshi Kusama. These improvements, the team hopes, will go a long way to bolstering support for DeFi and NFT projects. This key development will make the Shiba Inu ecosystem much better. Despite these initiatives, combined total value locked (TVL) on Shibarium is still quite low, at about 2.3 million. Raising this number is absolutely critical for restoring the long-term health of the network.
The team does this by cutting the supply largely via Shibarium’s fee-burn mechanism and periodic community-led burns. During the month of May 2025, an estimated 320 million SHIB were burned just in Shibarium transaction fees. These burns are designed to reduce the token supply as much as possible. In return, we hope to add to its value over time.
Ecosystem Expansion and Token Utility
The Shiba Inu ecosystem goes far beyond the SHIB token. ShibaSwap, launched in mid-2021, acts as the ecosystem’s decentralized exchange and yield farm. ShibaSwap further expanded the functionality and utility of Shiba Inu’s ecosystem by launching tokens such as BONE and LEASH.
Shiba Inu's metaverse project, Shib: The Metaverse, has reportedly entered the Alpha testing phase as of mid-2025. This more recent venture into the metaverse further exemplifies the project’s audacious aim. It looks to expand its audience and create new pathways to user engagement.
Addresses have increased over 1.511 million unique wallet addresses, achieving an all-time high Shiba Inu holder count. This passionate, vocal, and protective community is one of the greatest assets to the project, facilitating wider adoption and engagement with ecosystem endeavors.
Market Analysis and Future Outlook
They argue that Shiba Inu’s price may recover back in the direction of $0.000017-0.000018, close to its top in May, market professionals report. The cryptocurrency’s 3-day candle is approaching a pivotal zone. Analysts are optimistic that if it closes confirmed above this level, it might clear the path towards the next resistance zones.
On-chain data show that whale transaction volumes are more than 90% off early-year peaks. This decline in large transaction activity could reflect a shift in investor sentiment or a broader trend in the cryptocurrency market.
Though the market has had its ups and downs and overall struggles, SHIB developers have focused on a long-term, deflationary approach with token burns. This key economic development strategy aims at continued growth and deepening the ecosystem. Most importantly, it makes Shiba Inu a better candidate for long-term growth in a competitive memecoin environment.
