The Shiba Inu development team announced a significant financial milestone, having successfully secured $12 million through the sale of its latest utility token, TREAT. This fund-raising round, led by the Web3-focused venture capital firm Animoca Brands, has drawn substantial support from a consortium of blockchain-focused investors, setting the stage for the development of an innovative Layer 3 blockchain.
Shiba Inu Dev Team Attracts Enormous Interest
The funding round attracted an array of global investors, including Mechanism Capital, Cypher Capital, Shima Capital, Big Brain Holdings, and Polygon Ventures, among others. Notably, the round included contributions from entities such as Morningstar Ventures, Woodstock Fund, and Comma 3 Ventures, underscoring the diverse investor interest in Shiba Inu’s technological aspirations.
Shytoshi Kusama, the pseudonymous lead developer of Shiba Inu, detailed the strategic deployment of these funds in an exclusive interview with The Street during the Token2049 event in Dubai. He revealed that the capital raised would primarily facilitate the development of the project’s new blockchain protocol and enhance the functionalities of its existing Layer 2 solution, Shibarium.
“The aim is to transform Shibarium into the meme center of the world while expanding security measures and ensuring regulatory compliance,” Kusama stated.
The most ambitious aspect of Shiba Inu’s roadmap involves the development of a Layer 3 blockchain, designed to function atop the Shibarium Layer 2 network. This new layer promises to introduce cutting-edge fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) technology, a pioneering method that allows data to remain encrypted even during processing, thereby offering unprecedented privacy and security benefits.
“This new encryption chain aims to address multiple issues in the crypto space, including privacy and trust, essential for our extensive community and potentially billions more as we expand our reach,” explained Kusama. The new blockchain also intends to maintain compliance with international laws, balancing user privacy with the necessary legal frameworks.
Beyond technological development, the Shiba Inu team is focused on expanding its reach and influence. Kusama noted that the current user base, predominantly crypto-savvy individuals, represents only a fraction of the potential market. “I can’t capture much more market share of the crypto world but, boy, is there a huge part of the world, like 95% of the world, that has no idea about crypto. They might’ve seen our brand, they might’ve seen our logo but they will (know us) by the end of the year,” he emphasized.
The funding will also support new partnerships and community initiatives, including the acquisition of a .shib top-level domain and collaborations aimed at leveraging blockchain technology to authenticate and distribute videos. These efforts are part of Shiba Inu’s broader strategy to evolve into a “social network state,” where the community’s governance and interaction are heavily integrated into the blockchain framework.
Roadmap And Tokenomics For TREAT
The TREAT token, integral to this funding round, will join Shiba Inu’s diverse ecosystem of tokens like SHIB, LEASH, and BONE. TREAT is designed as both a utility and governance token that will play a crucial role in the new Layer 3 blockchain. Despite not being officially released yet, Kusama warned against fake tokens circulating in the market, emphasizing the importance of community awareness.
Looking ahead, the Shiba Inu team plans to launch a testnet for the Layer 3 blockchain in the third quarter of this year, with a mainnet launch slated after comprehensive testing and auditing processes.
At press time, SHIB traded at $0.00002688.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
