Without a doubt, the launch of one of Shiba Inu’s most awaited updates has definitely been disappointing.
After being delayed for several months, Shibarium was finally released on March 11. Built on Ethereum, the new decentralized exchange became the new way users could trade and transfer SHIB in easier and faster peer-to-peer transactions.
However, immediately following its launch, some SHIB enthusiasts began noting similarities in the DEX’s source code, to another project.
On Thursday, a member of Shibarium’s Discord community made a startling revelation that caused a commotion in the community.
The user pointed out that the mainnet application’s chain was using the same Chain ID number (917) as the Rinia Testnet chain.
This unexpected discovery prompted some members to speculate about possible plagiarism or fork-related issues, causing panic and leading to a 10% drop in the token’s value on the same day.
Many attributed the similarities in the source codes as due to both teams using the same open-source code for similar functionalities in both projects — however, the addition of yet another controversial moment related to Shibarium proved to be another hit to the meme coin.
Since then, $SHIB was not able to recover to the price it was before the plagiarism accusations, currently trading at $0.00001054 — a decrease of about 6.5%.
Adding to the conversation, @3TC — founder of the newest meme coin to compete in the same ecosystem, Golden Inu — indicated that he is not 100% on point with the explanation given for the “Shibarium” debacle.
In a tweet, the meme coin founder wrote that Shiba Inu’s team lacked transparency about the incident, while also showcasing that using open-source codes on a project that has been delayed as many times as Shibarium is unusual.
What’s Next For The Meme Coin Market?
Despite the ongoing drama surrounding the launch, many in the community are still expecting great things from Shibarium’s launch.
The DEX is expected to provide a faster and more cost-effective platform for trading SHIB and other tokens, which is a promising prospect for the community.
On the other hand, its newest rival, Golden Inu, has been picking up gains since its debut on February 24. The $GOLDEN price surged by over 500% in that time period. To put it in comparison, $SHIB lost nearly 20% of its value during that same time period.
