• Shiba Inu trades 87.88% below all-time high with minimal burn impact on supply.
  • Leadership anonymity and communication gaps deter institutional investment.
  • Missing US ETF filings place SHIB behind XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin adoption.

Shiba Inu faces growing challenges in reclaiming its all-time high of $0.00008845 despite community optimism about October performance. The token currently trades at $0.00001081, representing an 87.88% decline from peak levels.

October has delivered losses instead of the anticipated “Uptober rally.” SHIB has dropped nearly 10% month-to-date from around $0.000012. The token declined 11.5% over the past week and 21.2% across the previous 30 days.

Burn rate activity spiked 27,014% recently, but only 43.48 million tokens were eliminated. This volume pales against the 589 trillion token supply, making meaningful supply reduction impractical at current burn rates.

Anonymous leadership creates transparency concerns

The development team has maintained anonymous identities since the August 2020 launch. Team members use pseudonyms including Ryoshi as founder and Shytoshi Kusama as lead developer.

While anonymity suited early community-driven phases, the multi-billion dollar ecosystem now requires transparent leadership to attract institutional capital. This opacity contrasts with established cryptocurrency projects that feature identifiable leadership teams.

Kusama’s communication has become sporadic. His last X post occurred September 15, 2025, just three days after the Shibarium security breach. The lead developer has not posted or commented since that date.

Kusama set his account to private mode, limiting post visibility to approved followers only. This restricted communication approach raises concerns for a project leader overseeing such substantial market capitalization.

Core Shiba Inu developer Kaal Dhairya hinted at internal discord within the team. He suggested that ecosystem leaders who previously benefited from the project have departed, indicating potential key member exits affecting development continuity.

Incomplete projects and missing ETF catalyst

Multiple announced initiatives remain unfinished including the proposed NFT marketplace and Layer-3 blockchain. The team continues announcing new projects without completing existing ones or providing concrete delivery timelines.

This pattern creates perceptions of disorganization and strategic direction deficiencies. Serious investors view incomplete roadmaps as red flags indicating execution risks.

Shiba Inu secured a European ETP listing denominated in Swedish Krona. However, no U.S. exchange-traded product or fund filings exist despite asset managers filing for XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin products.

Bitcoin and Ethereum rallies have been attributed partly to ETF-driven demand. Without similar institutional vehicles in major markets, SHIB lacks a critical catalyst that has propelled other cryptocurrencies to new heights.