Shibarium Funding Crisis: Developer Admits Personal Liability

The Ethereum chain Blast announced its shutdown on October 2, 2026, due to running costs exceeding revenue. The same day, a Shiba Inu developer revealed that the maintenance and development of Shibarium are funded by a single individual, Kaal Dhairya. He stated 'Yours truly' when asked who pays for Shibarium.

The shutdown of Blast is significant, as it highlights the challenges faced by second-layer blockchains. These blockchains rely on a main chain, such as Ethereum, for security and transaction verification. They are often used for their lower transaction fees, but the costs of maintaining and publishing data on the main chain can be substantial.

The Shibarium chain, which allows for the transfer of tokens between Ethereum and Shibarium, has a very low network load and generates only 0.4442 BONE in fees per day, which is approximately 2.5 US cents. This suggests that the chain does not generate enough revenue to cover its operating costs.