Where We Stand: A Year-End Letter to the Shib Army
To the Shib Army,
I'm going to be direct with you, because you deserve that.
This year — especially the last few months — has been the hardest period in Shiba Inu's history. The hack happened. The leadership that was supposed to be here and help us through this difficult time — isn't. They left, without accountability, and without looking back.
I stayed.
I'm not writing this as the official "leader" of Shiba Inu. I never asked for that title. But I have always been there. The team and I have worked around the clock — all-nighters, weekends, holidays, sometimes for weeks straight.
So I'm writing this because someone needs to, and because I owe you honesty about where we stand.
On the Accusations
I need to address something directly.
There are people who have accused us of not filing official complaints with the authorities, or who demean the entire team's contribution by labeling us "the shib.io team." Some of these people show up whenever there's blood in the water — not to help, but to position themselves. I see them for what they are.
I don't owe opportunists an answer. But I owe the community the truth.
I have personally been interviewed by not one, not two, but three federal agents. I passed on everything I have — all the information, all the OSINT, all the details we gathered during and after the incident. The official process is happening. It has been happening. The people who claim otherwise either don't know what they're talking about, or have reasons for saying it that have nothing to do with helping affected users — they're looking to sell their snake oil and keep extracting from you.
So no, I will not share any complaint ID with you or anyone, and I'm not going to keep defending myself to anyone.
Where We Stand
The technical recovery is largely complete. The Plasma Bridge is back online with new safeguards — blacklisting, 7-day withdrawal delays, and hardened contracts. Over 100 critical contracts have been migrated to hardware custody. Hexens reviewed every major change. The checkpoint system is functioning again.
We're also decoupling the bridge from the validators. This is critical infrastructure work that allows us to actually decentralize Shibarium — something that should have happened earlier but is happening now. However, even after that, decentralizing Shibarium won't be easy, as malicious validators can still do a lot of damage.
But technical recovery is not the same as making people whole.
Introducing SOU: Shib Owes You ( Not live yet, beware of scammers )
Here's what I believe: If I could personally make every affected user whole, I would. I can't. But I can make sure that everything we do from this point forward is oriented toward that goal.
SOU — Shib Owes You — is not just a name. It's a system.
Every affected user has an SOU NFT — an on-chain, verifiable record of exactly what the ecosystem owes them. This isn't a promise in a database somewhere. It's cryptographic proof that you own a claim, recorded permanently on the Ethereum blockchain where no one can manipulate it or make it disappear.
Here's how it works: Each SOU tracks a principal amount — the value still owed to you. When payouts happen, your principal goes down. When donations come in from the community, your principal goes down. You can see your original claim, what you've received, what remains, and your progress toward being made whole — all in real time, all verifiable by anyone.
You're not stuck either. SOUs can be merged, split, or transferred. If you need liquidity now, you can sell your claim on supported marketplaces. If you want to consolidate multiple SOUs, you can merge them. The choice is yours.
The entire system — minting, payouts, donations, transfers — has been audited by Hexens.
But SOU Only Works If Everyone Is Accountable
For SOU to function — for affected users to actually get made whole — revenue has to flow into the system. That means everyone who benefits from the Shib ecosystem needs to contribute back. Not optionally. As an obligation. Specifically for the custodian of all our social accounts and websites.
This is not a request. This is what accountability looks like. If we're going to ask the community to be patient while we rebuild, then everyone who has access to ecosystem resources needs to be held to the same standard.
I'm calling this out publicly because it matters. SOU cannot work if the people with the biggest megaphones are extracting value instead of contributing to recovery.
What Changes Now
To focus on what matters, we have to stop doing what doesn't.
I'm pausing and sunsetting projects, systems, and processes that are not generating revenue or not hitting break-even. If it's not contributing to making users whole or keeping the core infrastructure running, it's not a priority right now.
What is moving forward: projects that can actually generate revenue to flow back into SOU. That's the logic now. Revenue flows to SOU. SOU pays back affected users. If a project doesn't fit that chain, it waits.
There will be hard decisions ahead. We will retire old systems that no longer serve the ecosystem's future. We will revisit tokenomics to align incentives properly. We will potentially merge or CTO some systems — so that value flows to where it should: back to the network and to the users who were affected. Some of these changes will be uncomfortable. Some will be controversial. But they are necessary.
The Open Brand and What Comes Next
One thing that hasn't changed — and won't change — is that Shib belongs to no one and everyone. But all the IP that was created around the open-source brand is properly registered will be licensed to contribute back to the affected users and generate funds for the future of the ecosystem.
From the beginning, we built a structure where any person, brand, or business can leverage the Shib brand, build products, create derivative works, and innovate freely. The only obligation: give back to the decentralized network. The revenue split model of 10% Non-Profits, 10% Burns, 15% Foundation, 15% Team — that model is still intact. In fact, it's more important now than ever. However, we will prioritize payback going forward.
The ecosystem's recovery depends not just on what I do, but on what builders across the world choose to create — and what they contribute back.
If you want to build on Shib, you can. If you make money doing it, some of that should flow back to the network that made it possible. That's the deal. That's how this survives.
Why I'm Still Here
I've asked myself this question. This year I have personally put in not just my time but also a lot of funds to keep everything afloat. Just focusing on Shib, I have lost or passed on so many opportunities that have cost me a lot. At the end of the day, I also have mouths to feed, so I cannot keep doing this forever. I need people to step up if they believe in what Shib was supposed to become — not a meme, not a pump, but a decentralized network where communities can form, builders can create, and ownership is real.
That vision isn't dead. It's just been through something hard. My team's and my core strength is technology, and we will focus on being the technology arm for the ecosystem — but there will be a cost associated with that.
I'm not the right person to lead this. But I am the person who's here, doing the work, and trying to earn back trust through actions rather than words and sporadic appearances.
What I'm Asking From You
Patience. Participation. Accountability — for me, and for each other.
If you see something wrong, say it. If you want to help, there are ways to contribute — including donating directly to SOU to help reduce what's owed to affected users. If you've lost faith, I understand. I'm not asking you to believe in speeches. I'm asking you to watch what happens next and judge by results — and to participate in and support ecosystem projects if you think it's the right thing to do.
The year ahead won't be about hype. It will be about repair, focus, and building something that can actually last.
Thank you for still being here. Happy New Year!
— Kaal