Despite growing optimism that Shiba Inu could reclaim its previous all-time high, several factors suggest this goal may remain out of reach.
Investors’ hopes for an “Uptober rally” are fading fast, as October has instead brought a sharp decline across the crypto market. Notably, many in the Shiba Inu community had predicted that SHIB would reach its all-time high (ATH) this month, citing the token’s strong performance in October.
However, Shiba Inu has fallen nearly 10% month-to-date, dropping from around $0.000012 to $0.00001081. At the current price, Shiba Inu is down 11.5% over the past week and has fallen 21.2% over the past 30 days. Despite posting a modest gain of 2.12% in the past day, Shiba Inu is still down 87.88% from its previous ATH of $0.00008845.
Why SHIB May Never Reach ATH Again
While parts of the community remain hopeful for a potential rebound that could drive SHIB back toward its record highs, several ecosystem factors continue to pose significant challenges to any sustained uptrend.
Insignificant Burn Volume
The Shiba Inu community has relied on token burns as a catalyst to drive SHIB’s price to lofty targets, including reclaiming the previous ATH. The idea is that these burns would help to reduce Shiba Inu’s massive circulating supply of roughly 589 trillion tokens to boost SHIB’s price.
While the burn rate has spiked by 27,014% over the past day, only 43.48 million tokens were burned. This represents a small fraction compared to the enormous 589 trillion token supply.
- Shib burn rate increases
In earlier months, daily burns often reached hundreds of millions, occasionally exceeding one billion tokens. With such minimal burn volumes, the likelihood of Shiba Inu reclaiming its former all-time high continues to diminish.
Anonymous Team
Another factor hindering Shiba Inu’s growth is the team’s continued preference for anonymity. Since Shiba Inu launched in August 2020, the identities of the team members have remained hidden.
They have chosen different pseudonyms to engage with the community, ranging from Ryoshi (the founder of Shiba Inu) to Shytoshi Kusama (lead developer).
While Shiba Inu’s anonymous leadership model suited its early, community-driven beginnings, the project has since evolved into a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem.
To sustain growth, the team needs to adopt a more transparent leadership approach, similar to other established crypto projects, to strengthen investor confidence and attract significant capital investment, driving future rallies.
Lack of Engagement from Shytoshi Kusama
Following the sudden disappearance of Ryoshi, Shytoshi Kusama became the leader of the ecosystem, with the community following his X account for updates. Recently, he has been inactive on X and barely interacts with the community.
He made his last post on X on September 15, 2025, barely three days after Shibarium suffered a major security breach. Since then, he has neither posted nor commented on X.
Amid growing criticism, Kusama even set his account to private, restricting access to his posts to followers only. Such limited communication is concerning for the leader of a project of this scale and may deter institutional and sophisticated investors from taking SHIB seriously as a long-term investment.
Internal Tensions
Apparently, internal tensions are brewing among the Shiba Inu ecosystem team members. Core developer Kaal Dhairya hinted at the discord in one of his updates on the Shibarium Bridge attack, noting that some ecosystem leaders who had previously benefited from the project have since walked away, suggesting that key members may be departing.
Although the full extent of the situation remains unclear, such disunity could hamper development, slow innovation, and further reduce the chances of SHIB reclaiming its ATH.
Unfinished and Unprioritized Projects
While Shiba Inu has launched major initiatives like ShibaSwap and Shibarium, many other announced projects, including a proposed NFT marketplace and a Layer-3 blockchain, remain incomplete.
Rather than focusing on completing existing projects, the team continues to announce new ones without offering concrete timelines. This creates an impression of disorganization and a lack of strategic direction—both red flags for serious investors.
No ETF Filing
Shiba Inu recently reached a noteworthy milestone as a Europe-based ETP issuer launched a SEK-denominated ETP linked to the token. However, SHIB has yet to attract any ETP or ETF filings in the United States, where asset managers continue to focus on more established cryptocurrencies such as XRP, Solana, and even Dogecoin.
The influence of ETFs on price performance is well-documented. Analysts credit much of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s recent rallies to surging interest in their respective ETFs. Without a similar product or filing in major markets like the U.S., Shiba Inu’s chances of reclaiming its all-time high remain slim.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Shiba Inu remains a prominent name in the crypto space. Yet, its chances of reclaiming its previous all-time high appear slim given the current state of its ecosystem.
From low burn volumes and leadership transparency issues to incomplete projects and lack of institutional support, SHIB faces several significant hurdles that could prevent a meaningful long-term recovery
