Shiba Inu’s TREAT Token and Layer 3 Blockchain

Shiba Inu, the creator of the well-known memecoin SHIB, has successfully raised $12 million through the sale of its yet-to-be-released token, TREAT, to venture capital investors based outside the U.S. This funding round attracted major players including Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, and Animoca Brands, among others. Despite some concerns about the U.S. base of investors like Mechanism Capital and Shima Capital, Shiba Inu’s lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, clarified that none of the participating investors are U.S.-based, though he opted not to disclose full entity names.

The fundraising, which began a few months ago and concluded earlier this month, was executed in tranches at valuations of $75 million, $100 million, and $200 million, respectively. Kusama described the effort as encompassing both pre-seed and seed rounds.

The TREAT token is positioned as the utility and governance token within Shiba Inu’s burgeoning ecosystem, particularly for its privacy-focused Layer 3 blockchain, currently under development atop Shibarium, their Ethereum Layer 2 solution. Kusama announced that TREAT would be the last non-stable token from Shiba Inu, with plans to introduce another token, Shi, later this year. The ecosystem already includes tokens such as SHIB, BONE (Shibarium’s governance token), and LEASH, which offer perks to Shiba Inu’s loyal users.

Despite not being officially released, there has been trading activity reported for TREAT tokens on platforms like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, which Kusama promptly labelled as fraudulent. The authentic TREAT tokens are to be minted by The Shiba Inu Mint S.A., a corporation based in Panama.

Shiba Inu’s new Layer 3 blockchain incorporates fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) technology, sourced from cryptography firm Zama, which recently secured $73 million in funding. FHE is considered a breakthrough in cryptography, allowing data to remain encrypted even during processing. This “encryption chain” aims to tackle significant issues within the crypto world, such as privacy and trust, especially pertinent to Shiba Inu’s vast user base and potential future crypto adopters.

The new blockchain is being designed with compliance and privacy in mind, ensuring it meets international legal standards while safeguarding user data and security. Kusama emphasized the dual benefits of privacy and verifiable credentials within their system.

Looking ahead, Shiba Inu plans to launch a testnet for the new blockchain in the third quarter of this year, with a mainnet release slated after comprehensive testing to ensure robustness and reliability.