Shiba Inu Risks Losing Top 30 Spot as Shytoshi Kusama Remains Absent

Shiba Inu lead developer Shytoshi Kusama has continued to maintain a low profile on X, even as broader market weakness weighs heavily on SHIB’s performance.

Kusama has remained inactive on the social media platform for more than a month. His last appearance came on May 13, when he shared an enthusiastic post and tagged fellow developer Kaal Dhairya.

At the time, many community members believed the developers were preparing to unveil a major update that could potentially support SHIB’s price. However, shortly after that post, Kusama went completely silent. 

Since then, he has neither published new posts nor interacted with other X users through likes or replies.

A Familiar Pattern for the Shiba Inu Community

For long-time members of the Shiba Inu community, Kusama’s absence is not unusual. The lead developer has developed a reputation for stepping away from social media for weeks or even months at a time. 

One notable example occurred in December 2025, when he temporarily left X while exploring artificial intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at strengthening the broader Shiba Inu ecosystem.

He eventually returned in late January 2026 to a warm reception from community members. Since then, he has repeatedly disappeared for brief periods before resurfacing. This latest absence, however, has now stretched beyond five weeks, with no indication of when he plans to return. 

AI Project Continues to Command Kusama’s Attention

Meanwhile, Kusama has consistently linked his social media inactivity to his ongoing artificial intelligence initiative, which he previously described as the next phase of Shiba Inu’s evolution.

Although he initially connected the AI effort to the SHIB ecosystem, recent updates suggest the project, known as R. OS, will operate independently of Shiba Inu.

According to information in his updated bio, Kusama is currently focused on developing the project’s application. He also noted that the website’s beta version has been completed and that the final bug-testing phase has been passed. 

The continued development of R. OS has fueled concerns among some investors who still view Kusama primarily as Shiba Inu’s lead developer.

Their concerns stem from the fact that the project is not directly designed to support core ecosystem tokens such as SHIB, BONE, LEASH, or TREAT. As a result, some community members have begun questioning whether Kusama’s priorities have shifted away from Shiba Inu altogether.

SHIB Risks Losing Top 30 Spot

Kusama’s latest disappearance comes at a challenging time for SHIB. The broader cryptocurrency market has exerted significant downward pressure on the token, pushing it below the $0.000005 level in recent days. At press time, SHIB trades at $0.000004677 with a market cap of $2.75 billion.

The token has declined 32.3% since the start of the year and remains 94.73% below its all-time high of $0.00008845. As a result, SHIB now faces the risk of slipping out of the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap. The token currently ranks as the world’s 29th-largest cryptocurrency, while PYUSD and AVAX trail closely behind with market capitalizations of $2.74 billion and $2.72 billion, respectively.