Emily Walker
Shytoshi Kusama, the prominent developer behind Shiba Inu, is currently embroiled in controversy due to a series of allegations made by the X account @shibburn. These accusations, which include claims of unauthorized endorsements and community misinformation, have sparked renewed discussions about accountability and leadership within the beloved memecoin sector.
Claims Made Against the Developer
In multiple tweets, @shibburn, a leading SHIB burn tracker, labeled Shytoshi Kusama and his affiliates as “scammers,” asserting they are manipulating narratives regarding the SHY token. The account commented: “The absurdity coming from these two scammers is astonishing. I see @ShytoshiKusama and his team trying to sway you into believing that SHY was not launched by him, but supposedly by the ‘Solana Community.’ They seem to think you’ll believe anything they say.”
Furthermore, @shibburn accused Kusama and his network of misrepresenting specific projects as “official” Shiba Inu efforts, asserting: “These individuals do not lead SHIB and lack the authority to label any initiative as ‘Official,’ including their own.”
The account also mentioned a new platform being developed to support the SHIB community, promising it would be “free of misinformation” and disallowed any “deceptive projects” linked to Kusama. They elaborated: “I will be launching a community-focused platform that provides trustworthy information… strictly dedicated to SHIB, without endorsements of misleading projects like Shytoshi’s Polygon clone or fake OS… There will be regulations to curb misinformation propagation regarding these ventures.”
Additionally, the burn tracker pointed fingers at specific initiatives such as K9 finance, claiming the project is misleading community members by associating itself with the SHIB ecosystem: “Projects like K9 finance that claim to be ‘Official SHIB projects’ are tied to the false ‘SHIB leader’ @ShytoshiKusama, not SHIB itself. Stop misleading the community with claims of SHIB’s support. No official intellectual property collaborations are involved here.”
This situation escalated over the past few days amid uncertainty surrounding the SHY token. While Kusama’s notable involvement often attracts scrutiny towards new Shiba Inu-adjacent initiatives, the SHIB team has consistently asserted that SHY isn’t part of the official token group (SHIB, BONE, and LEASH) and isn’t formally linked with the wider Shiba Inu ecosystem.
However, activity on X revealed that Kusama engaged with SHY, including burning half of its supply—tokens he reportedly received through airdrop without prior notice—raising further questions about his potential involvement. Official communications, nevertheless, maintain that SHY is not an authorized extension of the Shiba Inu platform.
Lucie (@LucieSHIB), the marketing lead for Shiba Inu, clarified the situation regarding the SHY token, reinforcing that Kusama’s engagement does not imply endorsement: “SHY didn’t originate from Solana—someone simply airdropped him half the supply, which he reacted to in his usual manner: burning, observing, and stepping in when chaos ensued. It’s a classic Shy move. Then, as turmoil grew with rogue admins trying to con their own community.”
When queried by community members about the choice to deploy SHY on Solana instead of Shibarium, Lucie pointed out a post by fellow SHIB team member @Mazrael, emphasizing that the official Shiba Inu platform is “SHIB.IO.”
These messages aim to uphold the idea that the SHIB ecosystem remains anchored around its core tokens and the emerging Shibarium Layer 2 network, despite claims of affiliations from other projects.
This is not the first instance where @shibburn has confronted Shytoshi Kusama and affiliated projects. Just recently, the burn tracker stated: “The so-called ‘Shib leaders’ and their deceitful team are now creating pump-and-dump scam tokens and utilizing what many viewed as the ‘main account’ to promote it. What a complete farce! For those who ignored the warnings… have you finally opened your eyes?”
In another comment, @shibburn expressed frustration: “What a farce! This entire situation is quite disappointing. It’s disheartening to see individuals attempting to exploit the community. We can learn from this and move forward, building a more reliable community.” So far, Kusama has not publicly responded to these direct accusations made by @shibburn.
As of the latest updates, SHIB’s trading value stands at $0.00001477.