Shiba Inu just crossed a major milestone: over 410.74 trillion SHIB tokens have now been permanently burned. That’s more than 41% of the original supply gone for good. In crypto, less supply often means higher value. But with SHIB, there is some nuance to this. Let’s break it down.

What’s Happening?

Shiba Inu launched with 1 quadrillion tokens. That massive number was part of the meme: a coin with so much supply it felt like a joke. But as interest grew, the team leaned into deflation. The biggest single burn came in 2021, when Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin torched 410 trillion SHIB, 90% of what he was given by the team, who had sent him the tokens without asking.

Today, SHIB’s total supply stands at around 589 trillion. And the burn continues. In the past week alone, over 687 million SHIB were destroyed. That’s a 480% increase in burn rate. On paper, this looks bullish. A shrinking supply should, in theory, boost the price if demand holds steady. But, supply is only half the equation.

Why It’s More Nuanced

SHIB still has a huge number of tokens in circulation. Even with 41% burned, hundreds of trillions are still out there. That makes it hard for SHIB to climb significantly in price without a massive surge in demand. And burning doesn’t automatically create that demand.

For that, SHIB needs utility, and that’s where recent developments come in. The team has launched Shibarium, a Layer 2 network, and rolled out the Shib Alpha Layer, a system to help developers build faster blockchain apps. A new gaming partnership with TokenPlayAI also aims to bring SHIB into Web3 gaming.

These are big steps in the right direction. They suggest SHIB wants to move beyond being just a meme coin. But the market hasn’t fully bought in, yet.

In short: the supply burn is impressive. It shows long-term commitment. It makes SHIB scarcer. But for SHIB to truly break out, it needs more than token destruction. It needs real use, real demand, and real belief.

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