SHIB, the memecoin representing the Shiba Inu ecosystem, saw a 9% dip over the last day. This downturn has been attributed to widespread user reports of technical hitches concerning the Shibarium bridge. This critical component of the newly launched Shibarium layer 2 network was anticipated with great fervor but faced challenges right off the bat.
The Shibarium network, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Ethereum blockchain, recently went live. The launch included a bridge facilitating transactions between Ethereum and Shibarium without incurring high fees.
As per the blockchain records, a disconcerting stall in network transactions spanned approximately seven hours from its initiation. During this period, users managed to transfer a substantial 954 Ether (ETH) valued at around $1.7 million, and Bone (BONE) tokens, Shibarium’s governance token, amounting to $750,000, to the designated contract.
An internal message from an unverified source surfaced on Telegram stating, “We f**ked up hard. We cannot even recover ETH bridge.” The authenticity of this message remains unconfirmed. Despite these claims, it’s clear that the situation has caused considerable concern within the SHIB community.
In case yall were wondering how Shibarium is going pic.twitter.com/S5vjTxoMDk
— ʎppɐꓷ ɯooɹɥS (@shroom_daddy) August 16, 2023
To further compound matters, the Shiba Inu community found itself momentarily silenced on the primary discussion platform, Discord, shortly following the surfacing of these bridging concerns.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that the malfunction has trapped around $1.7 million worth of ETH in the Shibarium Bridge. This has consequently stalled block production, adding further complications to the situation.
As a result of the bridge issues, the price of SHIB has fallen to its lowest level in over a month. The token is currently trading at $0.0000088, down from a high of $0.0000115 earlier this month.
The unexpected event has not only affected SHIB but also other tokens in the ecosystem, including BONE (down 16%) and LEASH (down 21%), which have reportedly dipped due to rumors of a total of $2.5 million Shibarium gaffe.
The developers of Shiba Inu have not yet commented on the bridge issues. However, they have said that they are working to resolve the problems as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the price of SHIB is likely to remain under pressure. Investors are likely to be cautious about buying the token until the bridge issues are resolved.