Shiba Inu has been on a roll in recent months, with the meme token seeing one of the best gains in the crypto market this year. Just two months ago in June, Shiba Inu lost the 15th position as the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap after $31 million worth of Shiba Inu was unstaked and moved to crypto exchange Binance. This would see Shiba Inu slide down to the 17th position as selling pressure increased, decreasing the price of the meme token.

However, SHIB’s price has reversed since then, and the token has skyrocketed up the rankings again. At the time of writing, SHIB has moved up three spots and is currently ranked 14th in terms of market capitalization.

The question now is will Shiba Inu keep climbing the rankings into the top 10, especially with the upcoming launch of Shibarium, its own Layer-2 solution? 

Can Shibarium Push Shiba Inu Into the Top 10 Crypto?

Shibarium is a layer-2 solution that hopes to provide lower gas fees and faster transaction times for Shiba Inu. SHIB runs on the Ethereum blockchain, which can get congested and expensive. So Shibarium aims to solve this by operating alongside Ethereum as a scaling solution. 

Shibarium is slated to be launched on Wednesday, August 16, as Shiba Inu lead developer Shytoshi Kusama taunted in a social media post. When Shibarium is launched, it is expected the layer-2 solution will increase the buying pressure on Shib. As a result, many SHIB enthusiasts expect a spike in price. 

Past news around Shibarium has always positively affected the price of SHIB. In July, Shibarium’s deployment to the testnet sparked the interest of SHIB investors, driving the price up. The token also witnessed a significant exodus from crypto exchanges as investors moved their holdings into private wallets in hopes of what Shibarium might bring. 

Shiba Inu started as a meme coin but has gathered some following from crypto investors. According to developers, Shibarium will transform Shiba Inu into an ecosystem with a decentralized exchange (DEX), a metaverse, and blockchain games.

If Shibarium delivers on its promises, it’s not unreasonable to think SHIB could climb into the top 10 cryptos, possibly even higher over time. In addition to the hype around Shibarium, the return of bullish sentiment in the wider market might also push SHIB to revisit its all-time high. 

At the time of writing, SHIB is trading at $0.000009638, down by 5.76% in a 24-hour timeframe. However, the launch and potential of Shibarium could make 2023 another breakout year for Shiba Inu.

Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com