SHIBAINU (SHIB) tokenomics

The Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem, launched in July 2020 by the anonymous creator "Ryoshi," has evolved from a meme-based community project into a multi-token decentralized ecosystem. Its tokenomics are defined by a unique initial distribution, a multi-token structure (SHIB, BONE, LEASH, and TREAT), and a heavy emphasis on community-driven burn mechanisms and decentralized finance (DeFi) utility through ShibaSwap.

Issuance and Allocation Mechanism

Shiba Inu's primary token, SHIB, was launched as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain with a total supply of 1 quadrillion. The project did not conduct any initial coin offerings (ICOs) or funding rounds, opting instead for a fair launch approach.

Upon launch, the project team locked 50% of the supply into a Uniswap liquidity pool. The remaining 50% was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Of the tokens sent to Buterin, he burned approximately 410.40 trillion SHIB (roughly 41% of the total supply) and donated 50 trillion SHIB to the India COVID relief fund. As of early 2024, the top 10 wallet addresses hold approximately 60.70% of the total supply, with the "Null" burn address being the largest holder.

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

The ecosystem utilizes several tokens, each serving a distinct role within the network's decentralized applications, primarily ShibaSwap and the Layer-2 network Shibarium.

Ecosystem Tokens

• SHIB: The foundational community token and medium of exchange.
• BONE: The governance token for the Doggy DAO and the native gas token for Shibarium. It has a total supply cap of 250 million.
• LEASH: An exclusivity token that provides holders with perks such as early access to land sales in "Shib: The Metaverse" and exclusive NFT minting.
• TREAT: The newest utility and governance token, serving as a reward mechanism for the "ShibaOS" and unlocking advanced features like SHIB Pay.

Incentives and Rewards

Users can earn rewards through various interactions on ShibaSwap:

• Bury (Staking): Users can stake SHIB, BONE, or LEASH to receive xSHIB, tBONE, or xLEASH. Staking SHIB entitles holders to inflationary BONE rewards and a 0.10% share of ShibaSwap fees (paid in ETH).
• Dig (Liquidity Provision): Users provide liquidity to earn transaction fees. These fees are distributed in SHIB and the paired asset.
• Woof (Yield Farming): Liquidity providers can stake their LP tokens to earn additional BONE rewards.
• Burn Portal: Users can burn SHIB to earn RYOSHI token rewards. The rewards are distributed every two weeks, funded by 1% of all RYOSHI transactions.

Locking and Unlocking Mechanisms

Shiba Inu does not follow a traditional corporate vesting schedule for its team, as the project team was not allocated a share of the total supply at launch. Instead, locking mechanisms are primarily user-driven through the DeFi platform.

• Staking Locks: While users can stake tokens at any time, the rewards are typically distributed on a bi-weekly basis.
• Liquidity Locks: The initial 50% of the SHIB supply was locked into Uniswap at launch to ensure market liquidity.
• Governance Locking: The TREAT token introduces veTREAT (vote escrowed TREAT), where users can influence liquidity rewards through gauge voting, effectively locking their governance power to financial incentives.

Regarding future token releases, there are no scheduled "unlocks" for the original SHIB supply as it is already fully circulating (minus the burned portion). For BONE, the remaining 20 million tokens are reserved for validator rewards on the Shibarium network once it is fully operational.

Burn Mechanisms

Burning is a central pillar of the SHIB economic model, intended to reduce the massive circulating supply over time.

• Manual Burns: Significant portions of the supply have been burned manually by individuals (most notably Vitalik Buterin).
• Community Burn Portal: Launched in April 2022, this allows users to voluntarily remove SHIB from circulation in exchange for RYOSHI rewards.
• Shibarium Auto-Burn: The project has announced plans for an automatic SHIB burn mechanism to be integrated into the Shibarium Layer-2 network, where a portion of transaction fees will be used to buy and burn SHIB.