SHIBAFRIEND: Bringing the Essence of Sports into Web 3.0

What is SHIBAFRIEND

Friends, imagine if you’re a sports enthusiast, love adorable Shiba Inu dogs, and are curious about all things digital—then SHIBAFRIEND (SHF for short) is like a “digital playground” tailor-made for you. It’s an ambitious blockchain project aiming to bring the familiar world of sports into a vibrant crypto universe and virtual metaverse through blockchain technology. Think of it as a massive, Shiba Inu-themed sports and entertainment center, where both sports fans and dog lovers can find joy.

SHF’s core target users are those passionate about sports, fond of dogs, and willing to explore Web 3.0 (the so-called “third generation of the internet,” which emphasizes decentralization and user data ownership).

In this “digital playground,” you can do many things: play various Shiba Inu-themed sports games that not only let you enjoy competition but also give you a chance to win SHF tokens and unique digital collectibles (NFTs, which you can think of as one-of-a-kind digital artworks or props). You can also collect all sorts of cute Shiba Inu NFTs, buy and sell virtual “Shiba Inu real estate” in the metaverse, shop in the virtual “Shiba Inu mall,” or sing in the “Shiba Inu karaoke”—all these activities may use SHF tokens.

Project Vision and Value Proposition

SHIBAFRIEND’s vision is to build a bridge connecting the traditional sports industry with the emerging Web 3.0 world. By introducing blockchain, NFTs, and GameFi (gamified finance, i.e., earning through gameplay), it aims to create unprecedented interactions between sports brands and fans, thereby “enhancing the Web 3.0 experience.”

The core problem this project seeks to solve is how to revitalize traditional sports content in the digital age and provide hundreds of millions of sports fans worldwide with a more immersive and engaging experience. It’s not just about moving sports online, but about enabling users to truly own digital assets and gain value through games and community participation.

Compared to similar projects, SHIBAFRIEND stands out for its deep integration with the sports industry. It is supported by the global sports tech incubator HYPE Sports Innovation and has established partnerships with Bologna Football Club, the Royal Belgian Football Association, EBU Sports (European Broadcasting Union), the International Biathlon Union, and many other renowned sports brands. This means it’s not just an ordinary metaverse gaming project, but one endorsed and participated in by real sports brands.

Technical Features

SHIBAFRIEND’s technical core lies in building a platform that integrates NFTs, the metaverse, and GameFi. Imagine it as a large online virtual world filled with various digital assets and interactive games.

Technical Architecture

The architecture of this metaverse is meticulously designed, even including 3D models of Singapore with real buildings, landmarks, and sports venues, stadiums, and clubs from other global cities. It’s like constructing a vast, explorable city in the digital world, making users feel truly immersed.

Consensus Mechanism

Although official materials do not specify which consensus mechanism SHIBAFRIEND uses (such as Proof of Work, PoW, or Proof of Stake, PoS), the fact that its SHF token contract address can be found on BSCScan (Binance Smart Chain’s block explorer) suggests it likely runs on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). BSC is an efficient, low-fee blockchain platform that typically uses Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) consensus, supporting the fast transactions and low costs needed for its metaverse and GameFi applications.

Tokenomics

The heart of the SHIBAFRIEND project is its native token SHF, which acts as the “universal currency” of this digital playground, carrying multiple functions and value.

Token Basic Information

• Token Symbol: SHF
• Issuing Chain: Binance Smart Chain (BSC), as its contract address is available on BSCScan.
• Total Supply: SHF has a total issuance of 10 billion (10,000,000,000) tokens.
• Issuance Mechanism: The project launched in December 2021.
• Inflation/Burn: SHF tokens have a burn mechanism; for example, in certain transactions, some tokens are sent to a burn wallet, meaning the total supply may decrease over time, potentially increasing the scarcity of remaining tokens.
• Current and Future Circulation: The team reports a circulating supply of 5.7 billion SHF tokens.

Token Utility

SHF tokens play multiple roles in the SHIBAFRIEND ecosystem, like tickets, game coins, and membership cards in a theme park:

• Metaverse Payments: Used for participating in metaverse activities (such as entrance fees), upgrading virtual pets, gifting to the Shiba Inu DAO (a decentralized autonomous organization, i.e., a community-driven decision-making body), etc.
• In-game Transactions: Used to buy Shiba Inu pets, land, buildings, and participate in initial NFT offerings (INO) in the NFT marketplace.
• Entertainment Spending: Used for transactions in the Shiba Inu NFT gallery, Shiba Inu mall, Shiba Inu karaoke, Shiba Inu cinema, and other virtual venues.
• DeFi Applications: Used as collateral in Shiba Inu DeFi (decentralized finance, offering lending, trading, etc.) for loans and options trading.
• Governance Rights: SHF token holders can vote on new game development directions or major project decisions, giving community members a degree of project governance.
• Fee Payments: Withdrawing “diamond tokens” from the game to an external wallet incurs a 6.9% SHF fee.

Token Allocation and Unlock Information

The SHF token allocation plan is as follows:

• Private Sale: 12%
• IDO/Launchpad (Initial DEX Offering/Launch Platform): 10%
• Liquidity: 10% (to ensure smooth market trading of the token)
• Team: 10%
• Advisors: 2%
• Marketing: 10%
• Treasury: 5% (for project operations and development)
• Metaverse, NFT, and Staking APY: 41% (to incentivize participation in the metaverse, NFT ecosystem, and staking activities)

Team, Governance, and Funding

Core Members and Team Features

The SHIBAFRIEND project is incubated by HYPE Sports Innovation, a global sports tech platform with resources from over a hundred top sports brands, clubs, and leagues. This shows the project has a strong background and connections in the sports industry. Additionally, the project has its own “Shiba Inu Game Studio” with dedicated developers and designers responsible for game development and design. Although no specific core member names are provided, this incubation and in-house studio model demonstrates the project’s capability in resource integration and content development.

Governance Mechanism

SHF token holders have the right to participate in project governance, such as voting on new game mechanics. This is a form of decentralized governance, meaning community members can influence the project’s future direction by holding tokens.

Treasury and Funding

SHIBAFRIEND raised $2.69 million through its initial coin offering (ICO), with HYPE Sports Innovation as one of its institutional investors. The token allocation also specifically earmarks 5% of tokens for the treasury, used for project operations and development. However, details on the specific use of funds and the “runway” (how long the project can operate with current funds) are not clearly stated in public information.

Roadmap

Since its founding on November 8, 2021, SHIBAFRIEND has made some progress and mapped out future development directions.

Key Historical Milestones and Events (as of 2022)

• November 8, 2021: Project founded.
• December 2021: SHF token launched.
• Created 23 Shiba Inu NFT sets: The project has designed and released multiple Shiba Inu-themed digital collectibles.
• Launched Shiba Music Beat: A play-to-earn music rhythm game.
• Released Shiba NFT Viewer: A tool for viewing Shiba Inu NFTs.
• Built sports metaverse football stadium: Constructed a virtual football stadium in its metaverse.
• Over 1,000 players played Shiba Music Game on mainnet: Indicates the game is live and has a user base.
• June 10, 2022: IDO community sale on Gagarin Launchpad.
• June 28, 2022: IEO on Coinstore exchange.

Future Plans and Milestones (as of Q3 2022)

• June 2022 (Q3): Launch Shibafriend NFT football game in the metaverse.
• Q3 2022: Launch Shiba Run and Earn (run-to-earn) game.
• Q3 2022: Build Shiba Walk and Earn (walk-to-earn) game.
• Q3 2022: Launch Swim and Earn (swim-to-earn) game.

Note that this roadmap information is mainly from 2022; the project’s current actual progress may differ.

Common Risk Warnings

Friends, when learning about any blockchain project, we must stay clear-headed and recognize the potential risks. SHIBAFRIEND is no exception; here are some key risk points to pay special attention to:

Technical and Security Risks

• Smart Contract Modifiability: According to Gopluslabs’ report, SHF’s smart contract may be subject to modification by its creator. This means the contract creator can disable selling, change fees, mint new tokens, or transfer tokens, etc. Such centralized control poses potential security risks and uncertainties, requiring investors to be highly vigilant.
• Project Activity: Most public information dates back to 2022, and there is a lack of recent data on project progress and activity after Q3 2022. If the team stops updating or developing, the project may stagnate.

Economic Risks

• Extremely Low Liquidity: CoinGecko data shows SHIBAFRIEND NFT (SHF) has total liquidity of $0.00, with no trading activity in the past two months. This means SHF token trading is very inactive; if you hold SHF tokens, it may be difficult to buy or sell at a reasonable price, and price volatility may be extreme.
• Insufficient Market Verification: CoinMarketCap has not verified SHF’s circulating supply. This means we cannot fully confirm the actual number of tokens in circulation, which may affect the assessment of the project’s true market value.
• Market Volatility: The crypto market is inherently highly volatile, and as a relatively new project, SHF’s price is more susceptible to market sentiment, news events, and project progress, potentially experiencing sharp rises or falls.

Compliance and Operational Risks

• Regulatory Uncertainty: Global regulations on cryptocurrencies and NFTs are still evolving, and any new regulatory measures in the future could impact SHIBAFRIEND’s operations and token value.
• Intense Competition: The metaverse, GameFi, and NFT sectors are highly competitive; SHIBAFRIEND must continually innovate and develop to stand out in the market.

Remember: The above risk warnings are not exhaustive; investing in any cryptocurrency project carries the risk of capital loss. Always conduct thorough independent research and risk assessment before making any investment decisions.

Verification Checklist

To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the SHIBAFRIEND project, you can further verify and research through the following channels:

• Block Explorer Contract Address: You can check the SHF token contract address on BSCScan:
  0x96ba...DF950D
  . Through the block explorer, you can view token transaction records, holder distribution, and other on-chain data. (Note: The project has migrated its contract address from v1 to v2; be sure to confirm the current contract address in use.)
• GitHub Activity: Visit SHIBAFRIEND’s GitHub page (e.g.,
  https://github.com/shf-finance
  ). You can check the update frequency, commit history, and contributor count for its code repositories (such as shf-nft, white-paper, shf-contracts), which reflects the team’s technical development activity.
• Official Website: Visit SHIBAFRIEND’s official website (e.g.,
  https://shibafriendnft.io/
  ) for the latest project announcements, whitepaper (if the GitHub version is not the latest), and partner information.
• Social Media: Follow the project’s Twitter, Telegram, Discord, and other social media channels to learn about community discussion activity, team interactions, and the latest updates.
• Third-party Data Platforms: Check SHF’s price, market cap, trading volume, and other data on CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, and pay attention to their project information verification notes.

Project Summary

SHIBAFRIEND (SHF) is an innovative project dedicated to merging sports brands with the Web 3.0 world. By building a Shiba Inu-themed sports metaverse and integrating NFT and GameFi elements, it aims to provide unique interactive and entertainment experiences for sports fans and dog lovers worldwide. The project’s highlights include its incubation by HYPE Sports Innovation and early partnerships with several well-known sports brands, laying a foundation for its expansion in the sports sector. The SHF token, as the ecosystem’s core, has multiple practical functions including payments, in-game transactions, governance participation, and features a burn mechanism to regulate supply.

However, there are some notable risks in the project’s development. The most prominent are its extremely low token liquidity and the potential modifiability of its smart contract, which may pose threats to token trading and asset security for holders. Additionally, most public information dates back to 2022, and the project’s recent (post-Q3 2022) progress and activity remain unclear and require further verification.

Overall, SHIBAFRIEND paints an imaginative vision of a sports metaverse, but faces significant challenges in market liquidity, contract security, and sustained project activity. For anyone interested in this project, I strongly recommend conducting comprehensive, in-depth independent research and thoroughly assessing all potential risks before making any decisions. This is not investment advice; please exercise caution.