The Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem is finally launching Shibarium, its Ethereum layer-2 network.

According to the developers, Shibarium’s mainnet launch provides the essential technical foundation “for the entire SHIB state.” Today’s launch follows an extensive beta testnet phase, which saw a reported 21 million users.

Shibarium, like the swath of layer-2 networks on the market, seeks to address some of the scalability challenges inherent in the Ethereum network. By offering enhanced throughput and reduced transaction fees—apparently even lower than those boasted by Polygon (MATIC)—it aims to improve the overall efficiency and user experience of decentralized application applications (dApps) and transactions.

“Cost and scalability of a new layer-2 network depends on a lot of factors including the number of validators, how many transactions flowing in the system, but our initial test has revealed sub-fractional transactions cost compared to Polygon and instant speeds,” SHIB developer Kaal Dhairya told Decrypt.

The move also boosts the project’s chances of leaving the meme coin category behind. Initially launched in 2020, Shiba Inu (SHIB) quickly joined the ranks of Dogecoin (DOGE) as yet another canine entry to the annals of crypto comedy.

Alongside Shibarium, though, the developers behind the project also promise a new identity protocol to show Shiba Inu is more than an internet meme.

Shiba Inu lead developer who goes by the pseudonym Shytoshi Kusama emphasized that the key differentiator of Shibarium from other scaling solutions is that the “L2 solution powers our entire governance and Shiba State framework.”

“With it, we can ensure low-cost transactions, membership, ownership, and much more on-chain for our ShibArmy and beyond,” Shytoshi Kusama told Decrypt.

Shibarium and its steak delegates

Shibarium is built on a consensus mechanism called Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPOS), with the network’s underlying infrastructure relying on a combination of validators and delegators.

In this particular design, validators take charge of running nodes, facilitating transaction processing, and generating new blocks. This collective effort also ensures the overall security of the ecosystem. Delegators, meanwhile, are backing the validators by staking support tokens.

“Our DPOS system is a great way for Shibizens to have a role in our new state,” Kusama told Decrypt. “In essence, validators and delegators are the first two roles in the society and we will scale to thousands more roles as we build a better future.”

According to the developers, Shibarium is also poised to play a key role in supporting other components of the existing Shiba Inu ecosystem.

This extends to backing assets like the SHIB and LEASH tokens, SHIBOSHI NFTs, SHIB The Metaverse, the ShibaSwap decentralized exchange, and the Shiba Eternity game.

“In my view, Shibarium’s best use case is that it is specifically designed to be a blockchain for everyone,” Kusama told Decrypt. “We specialize in building frameworks that support the community, not a specific use case. In this way, we promote unity, diversity, and decentralization.”

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• Source: https://decrypt.co/152684/shib-developers-deploy-layer-2-shibarium-ethereum-mainnet