The Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem is set to record another milestone, with the layer-2 network Shibarium approaching 5 million blocks. Despite this development, Shiba Inu’s price has remained tepid for a while now, which is undoubtedly worrisome for members of the SHIB community. 

Shibarium About To Hit 5 Million Blocks

Data from the Shibariumscan shows that the total number of blocks on the Shibarium network is over 4.9 million, nearing the 5 million mark. These blocks contain records of all the transactions processed on the network. Such a milestone is significant as it highlights how far the Shibarium has come. 

However, Shiba Inu’s price hasn’t reacted positively to this development. The meme coin is currently experiencing a downward trend, which is believed to be due to other on-chain metrics that paint a bearish outlook for it. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that SHIB’s trading volume is down over 20% in the last 24 hours, suggesting a lack of interest in the meme coin among investors. 

Shiba Inu’s burn rate is also down over 26% in the last seven days, which is significant given how these token burns have contributed to price surges for the meme coin in the past. Interestingly, the drop in the burn rate has been partly thanks to the declining daily transactions on the Shibarium network. 

Daily transactions on the layer-2 network have been at their lowest for some time now, with Shibarium only recording a daily transaction above 20,000 once this month. The decline in Shibarium’s total value locked (TVL) also suggests a lack of confidence among investors in the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Data from DeFiLlama shows that Shibarium’s TVL currently stands at $2.2 million, down from its peak of $3.9 million in March this year. 

Shiba Inu On-chain Metrics Paint A Bullish Picture

Some other on-chain metrics paint a bullish picture for Shiba Inu and suggest its recent decline is simply a healthy retracement. Data from the market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock shows that Shiba Inu has recently recorded considerable Net Network Growth, meaning more users are adopting the meme coin. 

Meanwhile, Data from IntoTheBlock also shows that Shiba Inu whales are still betting heavily on the meme coin, with almost a 4% increase in Large transactions these past few days. This is a very positive development for Shuba Inu since such large transactions could trigger a price recovery for the meme coin.  

Meanwhile, Shiba Inu’s fundamentals are strong, with lead developer Shytoshi Kusama recently raising the possibility of a Shiba Inu Spot ETF. Coinbase International Exchange also recently announced that it will add support for Shiba Inu perpetual futures on its platform. Trading will officially begin on May 30th. 

At the time of writing, SHIBis trading at around $0.00002444, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com