Shiba Inu’s slide continued into April, with the meme coin down roughly 35% year-over-year and trading near $0.000006 — well below the roughly $0.00000923 it reached in early January. The token has been in an extended three-month decline that accelerated over the recent weekend, and several converging factors help explain why a swift recovery looks uncertain. Shibarium troubles sap SHIB’s fundamentals A key headwind for SHIB is weakness on its own Layer‑2 network, Shibarium. Since the network’s August 2023 launch, SHIB’s price has been closely tied to user interest and activity on Shibarium. On‑chain metrics, however, show that activity has cratered: the decline began after a major attack in September 2025 that not only produced direct losses but also eroded user confidence. Where daily transactions once numbered in the millions, they have plunged to the low thousands. Shibariumscan reports roughly 1,230 daily transactions over the past 24 hours, with activity dipping as low as 557 on April 4. Developers recently pushed a major infrastructure upgrade — a full reindexing of backend systems — which may have temporarily reduced throughput in the short term. But the longer-term damage from the attack and the sustained fall in user engagement remain the bigger challenges for SHIB’s narrative. Derivatives, exchange flows point to fading trader confidence Market participants are also pulling back in derivatives markets. Open interest across major exchanges fell to $54.25 million, down about 16% from $65.23 million a month earlier and a steep 63% from the $145.40 million peak seen in January, according to Coinglass. Lower open interest typically signals traders closing positions and reduced speculative appetite. At the same time, on‑chain exchange inflows have ticked up — an often bearish sign. CryptoQuant data shows a net flow of +6.9 billion SHIB to exchanges in the past 24 hours (more SHIB entering platforms than leaving), and at one point that netflow spiked to 39 billion SHIB within 24 hours. Large inflows to exchanges often precede selling pressure if holders opt to liquidate. Broader meme‑coin weakness compounds problems SHIB’s struggles are not isolated. The meme‑coin segment as a whole has contracted sharply: total market capitalization for meme coins stands at about $34 billion, down from a year‑to‑date high north of $109.7 billion, per Coingecko. That wider pullback reduces tailwinds for high‑beta assets like SHIB. Outlook Taken together — weaker Shibarium activity after the September 2025 attack, a recent infrastructure reindex that may have temporarily depressed throughput, falling derivatives open interest, rising exchange inflows, and broad meme‑coin depreciation — the path to a sustained SHIB rebound looks challenging. Recovery will likely depend on renewed on‑chain activity on Shibarium, a restoration of trader confidence, and a healthier macro backdrop for meme assets. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news