The launch of Shibarium caused a decline in SHIB, BONE, and LEASH tokens amid rumors of a $2.5M technical error.
The cryptocurrency market witnessed a sharp decline in the price of Shiba Inu and its related tokens, SHIB, BONE, and LEASH, following the troubled launch of the Shibarium mainnet on August 16. A rumored technical error in the Shibarium network seems to have left the community in a state of confusion and concern.
Prior to the Shibarium network’s introduction, Shiba Inu token holders had high expectations for a considerable rise in the value of SHIB, BONE, and LEASH. The Shibarium mainnet serves as a layer 2 scaling solution for the Ethereum network, and its success could have led to significant gains. But the reality has proven otherwise.
In the past 24 hours, the price of SHIB has plummeted by 14%, BONE has dropped more than 24%, and LEASH, known as a low-supply staking rewards coin, has seen a drastic fall as well.
Technical Glitches and Lost Assets
Screenshots from an alleged internal conversation between Shibarium developers hint at a significant issue with the network. The Shibarium team, including lead developer Shytoshi, failed to recover assets bridged to the network. While the assets’ disappearance has not yet been confirmed, blockchain analysts have reported crucial parts of the network as nonfunctional.
The Shibarium Scan block explorer revealed a seven-hour gap since the last block, at the time of observation. The preceding blocks appeared to be mined but awaited import, indicating possible technical hindrances in the network’s operation.
Users faced further trouble when interacting with the block scanner, particularly when trying to query their bridged balance over the RPC, which was down at the time of reporting. Such problems have led the community to speculate about a flawed bridge in the network, which could be responsible for nearly $2.46 million of locked funds. This sum consists of $1.7 million worth of Ether (ETH) and an additional $762,000 in BONE.
The dip in the price of the tokens and these technical issues have quickly eroded the optimism that surrounded the Shibarium launch. It is still unclear how the Shibarium team plans to address these concerns. The situation serves as a poignant reminder of the risks and uncertainties that can come with new technological advancements in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency.