Shiba Inu raises $12 million in token round for its new blockchain

Quick Take

  • Shiba Inu has raised $12 million via the TREAT token to develop its new privacy-focused Layer 3 blockchain.
  • Investors include Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings and Shima Capital.

Shiba Inu, the team behind the popular namesake memecoin, has raised $12 million by selling its unreleased token, TREAT, to non-U.S. venture capital investors. These investors include Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Shima Capital, Animoca Brands, Morningstar Ventures, Woodstock Fund, DWF Ventures, Stake Capital and Comma 3 Ventures, Shiba Inu said Monday.

However, some of these investors, such as Mechanism Capital and Shima Capital, appear to be headquartered in the U.S. When questioned, Shiba Inu's lead developer, known as Shytoshi Kusama, told The Block that none of the investors are based in the U.S., though full entity names may not be disclosed.

Shiba Inu began raising for the round a few months ago and concluded it earlier this month, Kusama said. He declined to comment on valuation, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter told The Block that it was a tranched round, with each tranche occurring at valuations of $75 million, $100 million and $200 million, respectively.

Kusama said that the token round comprises both pre-seed and seed rounds.

Shiba Inu's TREAT token

The TREAT token, according to Shiba Inu, serves as the "utility and governance token" of its new privacy-focused Layer 3 blockchain, which is being built on Shibarium, its Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain.

TREAT will be the final non-stable token from the Shiba Inu ecosystem, said Kusama, adding that the ecosystem will introduce a new token called Shi later this year. The ecosystem's existing tokens include the popular SHIB memecoin, BONE, Shibarium's governance token, and LEASH, a fixed-supply token held by Shiba Inu's loyal users that provides them with benefits and perks, such as BONE rewards.

Although the TREAT token has not yet been released, CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap already display some trading volume for certain TREAT tokens. Kusama called this a "scam." The authentic TREAT token will be minted by The Shiba Inu Mint S.A., a Panama corporation, Kusama said.

Shiba Inu's new blockchain

Shiba Inu is developing its new Layer 3 blockchain using fully homomorphic encryption technology from cryptography company Zama, which recently raised $73 million in funding. FHE is regarded as the "holy grail" of cryptography, enabling end-to-end data encryption, even during processing. "This new encryption chain aims to address multiple issues in crypto, including privacy and trust for Shiba Inu's extensive community of tens of millions and the next billion crypto-curious individuals," said Shiba Inu.

The new blockchain is intended to comply with regulatory requirements. "It's important that we maintain a project that conforms to international law while protecting the privacy of data, and security of individuals," Kusama said. "By allowing people to both be private yet still gain credentials to verify their identity, our entire system extends security and compliance at the same time."

Kusama declined to disclose the name of the Layer 3 blockchain to "ensure that there are no scammers" like fake TREAT tokens.

The new blockchain is slated to release a testnet in the third quarter of this year and the mainnet "after thorough testing," according to Kusama.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Adam James at
[email protected]

WHO WE ARE

The Block is a news provider that strives to be the first and final word on digital assets news, research, and data.

+ Follow us on Google News
Connect with the block on