Despite Underwhelming Price Performance, Several Analysts Remain Bullish on Shiba Inu's Long-Term Potential

Shiba Inu (SHIB), one of the most prominent meme coins in the cryptocurrency space, has faced significant headwinds over the past few months.

Shiba Inu (SHIB), one of the most prominent meme coins in the cryptocurrency space, has faced significant headwinds over the past few months. Despite its underwhelming price performance, several analysts remain bullish on its long-term potential. Among them is Jeremie Davinci, a well-known cryptocurrency advocate who has historically made prescient calls, such as his early endorsement of Bitcoin (BTC) when it was valued at just $1.

During a recent interview on Ben Armstrong's "Armstrong & Friends" podcast, Davinci shared his insights on SHIB, highlighting the critical role of Shibarium, Shiba Inu's Layer-2 blockchain solution.

The Role of Shibarium in Shiba Inu's Future

Shibarium was introduced as a scaling solution for SHIB, aiming to improve transaction speeds, reduce costs, and foster the development of decentralized applications (dApps) on the Shiba Inu network. When initially launched, Shibarium demonstrated significant promise, processing millions of transactions daily. By February 2025, the protocol had surpassed 900 million transactions.

However, in recent weeks, Shibarium's momentum has slowed considerably. This decline in transaction volume could indicate a lack of user activity, potential adoption challenges, or difficulties in attracting developers to build on the network.

Davinci noted that while Shibarium offers strong utility, its success ultimately depends on real-world usage:

"I like Shiba Inu, as you know, and I think it will do relatively well in this cycle, but it may not go as high as you expect. I think Shiba Inu has a lot of utility now that they have Shibarium, and basically, it's a chain that you can actually run all kinds of applications. However, nobody is using it, and there are no applications for using your tokens on Shibarium yet. If they get that solved, Shiba Inu will go to the moon."

If Shiba Inu's development team and community can address this issue and attract more projects to the network, it could unlock a new wave of adoption and push SHIB to new heights.

The Importance of the SHIB Burning Mechanism

Another critical factor that could fuel SHIB's long-term growth is its token burn strategy. The Shiba Inu ecosystem has long relied on periodic burns to reduce its massive circulating supply.

Since the inception of this mechanism, over 410.7 trillion SHIB tokens have been burned, yet approximately 584.3 trillion tokens remain in circulation.

For SHIB's price to see significant gains, the burn rate must accelerate. The fundamental principle is straightforward—reducing the token supply while maintaining or increasing demand should drive prices higher.

While recent burn events have been impactful, they need to be scaled further to create tangible deflationary pressure on SHIB's value.

The Impact of Market Trends on SHIB

Meme coins like SHIB often follow broader cryptocurrency market trends. Historically, when Bitcoin (BTC) and other major altcoins enter a bull market, meme coins tend to follow suit. Conversely, when sentiment in the crypto space turns bearish, meme coins typically suffer greater losses due to their speculative nature.

If Bitcoin embarks on another strong rally in 2025, it could create a ripple effect that lifts the entire market, including SHIB. Investors looking for high-risk, high-reward assets often turn to meme coins during bullish cycles, which could provide an additional catalyst for SHIB's next breakout.

Potential Triggers for a SHIB Price Surge

1. Increased Adoption of Shibarium: If developers begin building useful dApps on Shibarium and more users start utilizing the Layer-2 network, it could drive significant demand for SHIB tokens.

2. Accelerated Token Burns: If the Shiba Inu community finds innovative ways to increase the burn rate—such as integrating burns into transactions, gaming, or NFTs—it could drastically reduce supply and boost SHIB's value.

3. Overall Market Sentiment: If Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market enter a new bull phase, speculative assets like SHIB could see substantial inflows from retail and institutional investors.

4. Mainstream Partnerships and Listings: New exchange listings, partnerships with established financial institutions, or integrations with major payment platforms could improve SHIB's accessibility and adoption.

5. Utility Expansion: Expanding SHIB's real-world use cases—such as payments, staking, or DeFi applications—could attract new investors and users to the ecosystem.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has the potential to explode in value, but its future largely depends on overcoming critical obstacles. Addressing the stagnation of Shibarium, accelerating token burns, and leveraging market trends will be key factors in determining SHIB's trajectory in the coming months.

If these challenges are met, SHIB could be poised for substantial growth, potentially outperforming many expectations in the current market cycle. However, if Shibarium fails to gain traction, and the token burn rate remains