SHIBA Inu (SHIB), also referred to as the “Dogecoin Killer,” is one of the most popular meme coins after being founded in 2020 by a person or group of people going by the pseudonym Ryoshi.
Between August 2020 and October 2021, the value of SHIB soared from a low of $0.000000000056 to an all-time high of $0.00008616. This 150,000,000% increase saw SHIB quickly surpass other dog-themed meme coins such as Floki Inu (FLOKI), Akita Inu (AKITA), and Dogelon Mars (ELON).
Shiba Inu’s success and popularity are mainly due to the unwavering support of its large and vibrant community, popularly known as the ShibArmy.
What to expect from Shiba Inu in 2022
SHIB’s track for the future is a closely guarded secret and it’s often hard to know what’s happening in its ecosystem.
But, we take an educated look at what can be expected from SHIB in 2022 and beyond.
Shibarium
Shibarium is a Layer-2 (L2) solution for the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
This highly-anticipated upgrade is expected to be built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Its primary purpose is to cushion SHIB users from the high transaction fees on Ethereum. Once launched, all SHIB tokens could be moved to the new platform.
Shibarium is also likely to feature a mechanism for burning SHIB tokens. According to the Shiba Inu founder, Ryoshi, transaction fees on Shibarium will be extremely low, or even zero.
In keeping with a long-established Shiba Inu tradition, very little information has been given about when Shibarium might be released.
But speculation is rife that it might be as early as the first half of 2022.
Recently, Unification, a Shibarium development partner, indicated that the project was in its Alpha phase.
Soon after, Shiba developer Kaal Dhairya tweeted that Shibarium was moving into its Beta stage. And while affirming that the Shiba Inu project rarely issues release dates so as not to disappoint its community, Shiba Inu Discord moderator, Queenie, reiterated that Shibarium remains on course for a 2022 release.
SHIB Game
The Shiba Inu Game was first announced in November 2021, and analysts expect it to significantly expand the Shiba Inu ecosystem significantly.
Since the announcement, the SHIB team has kept its community updated and excited with regular information drops.
SHIB Game will be a multiplayer collectible card game that will include at least 1,000 SHIB-themed cards, including one based on Ryoshi, the Shiba Inu founder.
Each card will feature a set of attack and defense stats and a unique ability.
The game will be available on two platforms: a traditional mobile game and an NFT game powered by Shiboshi NFTs.
The game’s mobile version will have in-app purchases, while the NFT version will include play-to-earn (P2E) elements.
PlaySide Studios are developing SHIB Game in conjunction with former Activision developer William Volk.
According to PlaySide, the game could be launched at any time between July and September 2022, with featured playing cards revealed gradually throughout the year.
ShibaSwap 2.0
ShibaSwap 2.0 is the next iteration of Shiba Inu’s proprietary crypto exchange.
ShibaSwap 2.0 is a “crypto portal” that aims to include news, statistics, trends, charts, and everything else the Shiba community would want to see.
The new version of ShibaSwap will also undergo an extensive redesign of its user interface and user experience aspects.
There has been no release date given for ShibaSwap 2.0, but we will be sure to keep you updated on any new developments as soon as they emerge.
SHIB: The Metaverse
The Shiba Inu metaverse was first announced in January 2022.
It is expected to be a place where members of the Shiba community can interact with the SHIB token, the Shiba Inu game, and ShibaSwap, among others.
The metaverse will be hosted on SHIB.io and will feature 100,595 digital plots of land.
While everyone will be able to buy real estate in the Shiba Inu metaverse, certain sections, such as the Shiboshi Zone, will be exclusively available to holders of Shiboshi NFTs.
It is still unclear what the Shiba Inu metaverse will look like.
Still, the latest information is that an AAA studio acquired the contract to do the artwork.
There is no specific release date for the Shiba Inu metaverse, but speculation is rife that it will most likely be in 2022, as the tweet announcing it initially stated.
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Shiba Inu Roadmap: 2023 and Beyond
Progress in the Shiba Inu ecosystem will certainly not end soon.
More releases and collaborations, such as ShibaNet, are expected beyond 2022.
ShibaNet is an attempt to add more real-world use-cases to the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
It will be a decentralized marketplace that will facilitate the buying, selling, and trading of goods in the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
ShibaNet aims to leverage Shibarium, meaning that its users will be shielded from Ethereum’s transaction fees.
While the project is still largely conceptual, SHIB project lead Shytoshi Kusama has confirmed the technology to power ShibaNet is already working.
Another project to look out for in 2023 is the proposed NFT fashion collection to be made in collaboration with British designer John Richmond.
The collection was first teased in a cryptic video posted on Shiba Inu’s official Twitter handle. According to the tweet, the collection will consist of 10,000 fashion-centric NFTs.
However, it is uncertain whether the NFTs will have a link to real-life versions of Richmond’s clothing designs.
The release date and possible pricing of the NFTs are also currently unknown.
Apart from a decentralized marketplace and an NFT fashion collection, Shiba Inu enthusiasts can also look forward to a chain of SHIB-themed fast-food restaurants soon.
Welly, a famous Italian fast food restaurant, entered into a food partnership with Shiba Inu, which will give members of the Shibu Inu community a voice in the running of the restaurant.
After receiving hundreds of requests, Welly recently decided to open up applications for new SHIB-inspired restaurants across the globe.
The fast-food restaurant is yet to give a firm timeline regarding the opening of the stores. However, Shiba Inu project lead, Shytoshi Kusama, has hinted that multiple stores could be opened in 2022 and 2023.
