Ryoshi, the founder of Shiba Inu, is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Yet one thing is certain, the crypto market loves a cult figure.
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some other cryptocurrency legends. Vitalik Buterin and Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano (ADA), immediately spring to mind. According to their fans, they are seen as nothing less than geniuses, reinventing the world as we know it.
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However, Sam Bankman-Fried and Do Kwon were also a part of this prestigious club, before their respective experiments crashed and burned.
Like Satoshi Nakamoto, SHIB founder Ryoshi is anonymous and incorruptible. Since the meme coin founder deleted his tweets and vanished from social media, this mythic personality has only grown in notoriety.
According to blockchain detectives, there may be more Ryoshi tokens out there.
What is the story of Ryoshi? Has the real identity of the enigmatic founder ever been exposed?
Who is Ryoshi?
Ryoshi is the anonymous founder of Shiba Inu (SHIB), a cryptocurrency meme coin that launched in 2020 and took the world by storm.
Little is known about the SHIB creator. In the early days of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, Ryoshi told the die-hard community that:
“I am a nobody, I am not important. The efforts to unmask my “identity” even if successful would be underwhelming. I am just some guy of no consequence tapping at a keyboard and I am replaceable. I am Ryoshi.”
While Ryoshi’s claims to be someone of little importance, the altcoin he created roared from bare bones beginnings to become one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap in the blockchain industry.
Whether it was his intention or not, Ryoshi has become a key figure in the crypto landscape.
The Birth of SHIB
The last Bitcoin (BTC) halving kicked off a titanic crypto bull run and the historic DeFi summer of 2020. During this time, venture capitalists and insiders enjoyed a trend of exploitative private token sales, relentlessly dumping cheaply-acquired tokens on unwary retail investors.
Appalled, Ryoshi launched SHIB on the Ethereum (ETH) network with just $3,000 worth of liquidity on UniSwap in August 2020. Shiba Inu was meant to give everyone a chance to enter a new crypto project at the ground floor.
There was no presale, no VCs and no heavy developer wallets or insiders waiting for exit liquidity. SHIB was, and still is, a meme coin created for the people, by the people.
Today, the Shiba Inu ecosystem is thriving. It hosts a multitude of essential blockchain tools, like ShibaSwap and Shibarium, as well as its own metaverse and NFT collection, the Shiboshis.
Ryoshi Vanishes – SHIB Army Steps Up
In May 2022, Ryoshi shocked and devastated the Shib Army, vanishing from social media and deleting his iconic medium posts. Ryoshi’s Twitter deleted all its previous tweets, and changed its profile picture to Milarepa, a Buddhist disciple.
The ongoing crypto bear market was a tough pill to swallow. There was evidently a rift behind the scenes causing tensions between Ryoshi and Shiba Inu’s other co-founders and lead developers.
Despite short term panic, the Shib Army was not to be so easily disbanded. A community token at heart, the Shib Army rallied around the remaining lead developers who’d been carrying the project.
While it had initially been seen as nothing more than a meme coin trying to siphon market share and attention from Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu has overcome adversity to become one of the most widely recognized digital assets in the space. Even the disappearance of the original founder couldn’t shake the loyalty of its devotees.
Shytoshi Kusama
When founders like Ryoshi first disappear, many lesser crypto tokens would simply shut up shop and begin the common descent into rugpull-territory. In the case of Shiba Inu, Shytoshi Kusama would not allow this to happen.
Shytoshi Kusama is the lead developer of the Shiba Inu ecosystem and is a key figure in its ongoing growth. Shytoshi was one of the early buyers of SHIB tokens, and was a vocal advocate for the Shib Army when the community first started making waves on social media.
To Shytoshi’s credit, it looks as though there is no lingering resentment towards Ryoshi for disappearing. On the last anniversary of Ryoshi’s vanishing, Shytoshi actually thanked Ryoshi for providing the platform and vision for Shiba Inu to keep moving forward.
Where Is Ryoshi Now?
Blockchain detectives have suggested that newer cryptocurrency meme coins, like Ryoshi’s Vision and Dejitaru Tsuka, have been created by the mysterious Shiba Inu founder. While the evidence is fascinating and cryptic, it’s ultimately inconclusive.
On-chain messages and hyper-specific gas fees make obscure references to Ryoshi’s previous inspirations, including the current Twitter profile picture. However, until anything is confirmed these rumors are pure speculation.
Did Ryoshi’s Vision Come True? The Shibarium Launch
On August 16, 2023, Shiba Inu achieved its greatest milestone to date. For over a year, Shytoshi Kusama and the Shiba Inu development team poured their blood, sweat, and tears into realizing their grand vision to launch Shibarium, a Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution.
The Shibarium debut was nothing short of theatrical. The sheer volume of frenzied traffic from eager members of the SHIB Army was unprecedented and paralyzed the network. Despite their best preparations and an extensive PuppyNet testing phase, the overwhelming influx was a curveball even for the seasoned SHIB team.
In the face of mounting criticism and frustration from the Shiba Inu community, Shytoshi Kusama stepped up to relieve mounting concerns that Shibarium was a failure. He assured the SHIB Army that Shibarium’s underlying architecture was rock-solid and that the team had simply underestimated the incoming traffic.
Locked BONE? Shibarium’s Woes Deepen
The Shibarium launch drama was far from over. On top of the technical hiccups that paused the Layer 2 blockchain from the get-go, early bridgers who were eager to be the first users on the new chain found their cryptocurrency locked in the Shibarium bridging smart contract.
Over 1,000 ETH and 600,000 BONE tokens, valued at over $2 Million USD, were locked in the contract, sending ripples of fear and panic through holders. Again, it was up to Shytoshi Kusama to steady the ship, assuring the SHIB Army that the situation was under control.
Over the following two weeks, Shytoshi made regular updates to the community, bringing clarity to the turbulent network conditions and relieving the concerns of Shibarium users. On August 28th, after a few days of consistent uptime, Shytoshi declared Shibarium officially live.
Will Ryoshi Resurface with the Rise of Shibarium?
Despite a tumultuous launch, Shibarium is alive and kicking. Over 1M crypto wallets have bridged over to and interacted with the new network in some way, generating excitement and intrigue amongst the Shiba Inu community.
At this point, the question needs to be asked. If Shibarium continues attracting users at its current rate, it may well become one of the industry’s largest Layer 2 blockchain networks. Would that be enough to draw Ryoshi out of his mysterious hiding and back into the crypto world?
That remains to be seen, although it seems unlikely. Despite plenty of exciting catalysts for the Shiba Inu project, Ryoshi’s 𝕏 account has been silent since he vanished. Even if Ryoshi were to return, would SHIB holders even be happy to see him? It can’t be ignored that Ryoshi’s disappearance shocked the SHIB Army.
Moreover, many of Shiba Inu’s greatest achievements, like Shibarium, have only come long after he’s been gone. For now, Shytoshi Kusama is leading the pack and has earned the full support of one of crypto’s most passionate communities.
Ryoshi’s True Identity – Best Theories
Deducing Ryoshi’s true identity is one of the favorite pastimes of both SHIB supporters and detractors. There are certainly some wild theories out there, with each looking more outlandish than the last.
Conor Grogan, a director at Coinbase, believes he’s cracked the code. He claims that Ryoshi is none other than Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the FTX crypto exchange. Grogan’s claim is based on Ryoshi’s wallet being linked to Alameda Research wallets.
Bitboy Crypto, one of the largest crypto influencers, has followed a trail of breadcrumbs leading across vague Telegram groups and old dinner parties for his thesis.
In true ‘vigilante’ fashion, Bitboy can’t reveal his sources, so it’s hard to accept his theory that Ryoshi is in fact Neyma Jahan, founder of another crypto project called Unification Foundation.
Other theories also point to Elon Musk as the mysterious founder of the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Like most conspiracy theories, these far-fetched ideas are fun to entertain and might actually be true. However, until confirmed it is probably best to take them with a grain of salt.
On the Flip Side
- Despite creating the SHIB token, Ryoshi arguably didn’t have much to do with the Shiba Inu ecosystem. SHIB’s success is due to the work of its present development team and the efforts of the Shib Army more than its original deployer.
Why You Should Care
According to CoinMarketCap, Shiba Inu is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, and represents the power of memes and community in the market.
FAQs
When SHIB was created, Ryoshi sent almost half of the token’s supply to Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. Buterin has since burnt most of his holdings, or donated it to charity.
Yes, in May 2022 Ryoshi deleted the historic medium posts outlining his vision for the SHIB community and vanished from social media. Fortunately, the Shib Army and lead developers have continued to expand and push the Shiba Inu ecosystem to new heights.
SHIB is available on most crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. It can also be purchased on decentralized exchanges.