Meet the Ethereum-Shibarium Bridge, an upcoming solution that promises to enhance the Shiba Inu ecosystem by providing seamless, secure cross-chain transactions for SHIB users.
The Shiba Inu ($SHIB) project, a decentralized cryptocurrency initiative, was inspired by the widely-known Shiba Inu dog breed meme and developed as an Ethereum blockchain-based alternative to Dogecoin. The Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem features three distinct tokens, each designed for a specific function.
SHIB, the primary token, serves as a decentralized, community-driven currency that is accessible to millions of users around the world. Launched in late 2020 on the Ethereum blockchain, SHIB has gained international attention and can be used for payments at various locations, either directly or via third-party intermediaries.
BONE, the governance token of the ecosystem, has a total supply of 250 million tokens and allows the Shib Army to engage in decision-making by voting on proposals through the Doggy DAO. BONE also underpins the ecosystem’s proprietary Layer 2 network, Shibarium.
LEASH, with a total supply of 107,646 tokens, rewards the ecosystem’s dedicated supporters by offering exclusive perks and access. LEASH holders have previously enjoyed incentivized BONE rewards for providing liquidity on ShibaSwap, exclusive Shiboshi NFT minting access, and early land sale opportunities in the Shib: The Metaverse project.
Shibarium is a Layer 2 blockchain developed to address the limitations of the SHIB token’s host chain, Ethereum, particularly its low speed and high transaction costs.
SHIB influencer Lucie Sasnikova recently explained the workings of the Ethereum-Shibarium Bridge. According to her, the bridge between the two major blockchain networks requires a secure and robust cross-chain solution. Shibarium achieves this through the use of Plasma and PoS security, creating a trustless and bi-directional transaction environment between Shibarium and Ethereum.
This bridge allows users to transfer tokens between networks without third-party risks or liquidity impacts. It is designed to be fast, cost-effective, and versatile while also serving as a scaling solution. The bridge leverages a dual consensus architecture (Plasma + PoS platform) to prioritize speed and decentralization and enables arbitrary state transitions on sidechains with EVM support.
As tokens cross the bridge, their circulating supply remains unchanged. When a token leaves the Ethereum network, Shibarium mints an equal number of pegged tokens (1:1). To transfer tokens back to the Ethereum network, they are burned on Shibarium and unlocked on Ethereum during the process.
The beta test network for Shibarium is named PUPPYNET. As per the blockchain explorer BlockScout, currently (i.e., as of 5:40 p.m. UTC on April 20, the beta version of Shibarium has successfully executed 4,290,709 transactions. Data from this PUPPYNET explorer indicates that the number of wallet addresses utilizing Shibarium beta has reached 13,993,009. Presently, the gas fees are 1.51 Gwei, which is virtually cost-free.
