SHIB developers start testing Shibarium-to-Ethereum bridge

Shibarium is one step closer to launch, and Doge-themed meme coins are benefiting from it.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is the second largest meme coin by market capitalization. Image: Shutterstock

Testnet

The pseudonym “Marketing Expert” Lucie, who represents the Shiba ecosystem, tweeted today that the public beta phase will allow enthusiasts “to be among the first to try this revolutionary cross-chain solution.”

Shiba Inu (SHIB), the 15th largest crypto asset by market capitalization, is a meme coin based on the same internet meme as Dogecoin. The launch of the Shibarium-to-Ethereum testnet bridge appears to be giving the doggy-themed token a boost.

SHIB, Dogecoin, and even ShibaSwap (BONE) all saw huge gains.

BONE is up 9 percent in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, SHIB, which has a market capitalization of nearly $5 billion, has surged nearly 6% in the same time frame, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Sidechain

Still, this could help unlock greater utility for the Shiba Inu ecosystem and help the project get away from being accused of being a "meme token" because price increases are driven by speculation and greed rather than anything tangible .

But even if Shibarium takes off, affiliated tokens are unlikely to match the heady days of the last bull run. BONE and SHIB are still 90% below their all-time highs set in 2021, according to CoinGecko.

There has been a renewed interest in dog-themed tokens lately, and Dogecoin has also been doing quite well at certain points this week.

This may have something to do with ongoing speculation that Elon Musk might make the altcoin the official payment method on X (formerly known as Twitter). The billionaire started putting Dogecoin on the social network back in 2020 and played a major role in its 14,700% surge in the first four months of 2021.

After failed efforts to push DOGE to $1 and SHIB to a penny, the potential use as a widespread payment method could herald the beginning of a new chapter and mean that the old dogs still have life.