Shiba Inu to Launch Its Blockchain, Raises $12M

Shiba Inu, the team behind the popular memecoin SHIB, has secured $12 million by selling its unreleased token, TREAT, to non-U.S. venture capital investors.

Among these investors are Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings, and others, as announced by Shiba Inu on Monday.

While some investors like Mechanism Capital and Shima Capital are seemingly based in the U.S., Shiba Inu's lead developer, known as Shytoshi Kusama, clarified that none of the investors are U.S.-based, although full entity names may not be disclosed.

The fundraising process for the round began a few months ago and concluded earlier this month, according to Kusama. However, details regarding the valuation remain undisclosed. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that it was a tranched round, with valuations ranging from $75 million to $200 million.

The TREAT token, described as the "utility and governance token" of Shiba Inu's new privacy-focused Layer 3 blockchain built on Shibarium, serves as the final non-stable token in the ecosystem. Kusama mentioned that a new token called Shi will be introduced later this year, alongside existing tokens like SHIB, BONE, and LEASH.

Despite not being released yet, certain TREAT tokens are already showing trading volume on platforms like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. Kusama dismissed these as scams, emphasizing that the authentic TREAT token will be minted by The Shiba Inu Mint S.A., a Panama corporation.

It is worth noting that Shiba Inu is developing its Layer 3 blockchain using fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) technology from Zama, a cryptography company. FHE is hailed as the "holy grail" of cryptography, ensuring end-to-end data encryption even during processing. The new blockchain aims to address privacy and trust issues within Shiba Inu's community and comply with regulatory requirements.

The blockchain is scheduled to release a testnet in the third quarter of this year, followed by the mainnet after thorough testing, according to The Block.

The name of the Layer 3 blockchain remains undisclosed to prevent potential scams associated with fake TREAT tokens.