The Shiba Inu (SHIB) network registered a sharp increase of over 10,000 new holders in a four-day period as its Layer 2 scaling solution, Shibarium, surpassed 1 billion total transactions. The growth in user adoption and network activity points to rising conviction in the meme coin's ecosystem.
Data from the Ethereum block explorer Etherscan confirmed the surge in wallet addresses holding SHIB, with the total number climbing to over 1.573 million as of April 22. The increase represents one of the fastest periods of short-term growth for the network in 2026, with one seven-day period showing a net increase of 5,653 holders.
The wave of new users coincided with significant on-chain token movements and developmental milestones. Approximately 505 billion SHIB tokens moved off centralized exchanges in the past week, an outflow that typically suggests a shift toward long-term holding in self-custody wallets. This trend is supported by data showing the number of long-term SHIB holders has grown by nearly 78% over the last year.
This user growth provides a foundation for Shibarium, which recently crossed the 1 billion transaction mark. Each transaction on the Layer 2 network contributes to a burn mechanism that reduces the total supply of SHIB over time, making sustained network usage a critical factor for the token's long-term value. The team is also preparing a major privacy-focused upgrade for Q2 2026, developed with cryptography firm Zama, which will introduce Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) to the network.
The single largest daily increase in SHIB holders occurred on April 21, when 4,958 new wallets joined the network, the highest one-day gain recorded this year. This influx followed a more than 7% price increase in the preceding week, as SHIB’s price broke through a multi-year descending triangle pattern on its daily chart. Such technical breakouts often attract retail interest.
The movement of 505 billion SHIB from exchanges to private wallets further signals that new and existing holders are preparing to store their assets for the longer term, reducing the immediately available supply on the market.
The milestone of 1 billion transactions on Shibarium is not just a number; it is integral to SHIB's tokenomics. Transaction fees on the network are used to burn BONE tokens and indirectly contribute to reducing SHIB's circulating supply. This creates a direct link between network activity and the token's scarcity, a narrative closely watched by investors. While SHIB has established itself, newer meme projects like AlphaPepe, which is nearing the $1 million mark in its presale, are trying to replicate this model of utility and community growth before a wider exchange debut.
The upcoming FHE upgrade promises to add another layer of utility, enabling encrypted transactions and privacy-preserving applications for DeFi and gaming on Shibarium. As of writing, SHIB trades near $0.0000061 with a market capitalization of approximately $3.59 billion, ranking it 27th on CoinMarketCap.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
