TLDR
- The Shiba Inu development team has issued a final ultimatum to the Shibarium hacker.
- Developers have increased the bounty offer to 25 ETH as their last attempt to recover stolen assets.
- The hacker had previously rejected offers of 5 ETH and 20 ETH and demanded 50 ETH instead.
- Shiba Inu developers confirmed that all stolen tokens remain blacklisted and hold no real value.
- Lead developer Shytoshi Kusama created a war room to coordinate recovery and investigation efforts.
Shiba Inu developers have issued a final ultimatum to the hacker behind the Shibarium bridge exploit. The team increased its bounty offer to 25 ETH, calling it the last chance to return the stolen assets.
Shiba Inu Raises Final Bounty to 25 ETH
Shiba Inu’s development team confirmed the 25 ETH bounty through an on-chain message recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. The team stressed that the hacker’s blacklisted tokens now hold no usable value.
The hacker had previously rejected two earlier offers of 5 ETH and 20 ETH. Instead, he demanded 50 ETH from the Shiba Inu community.
Developers made clear that this new proposal is final and will not be raised again.
“This is Shib offering more funds. Not K9 DAO,” the message read.
The team urged the hacker to accept the offer and end the standoff peacefully.
“Do the smart thing and collect what you can,” the developers stated firmly.
The Shiba Inu developers emphasized that the stolen tokens are permanently blacklisted. They warned that keeping them offers no benefit.
The statement said, “The blacklisted tokens are currently useless to you and we could easily move on.”
The developers underlined that these assets cannot be transferred or exchanged.
They also reminded the hacker that the attack harmed real users in the Shiba Inu ecosystem. The message added, “You’ve taken real money from hardworking people who trusted the Shib ecosystem.”
Lead developer Shytoshi Kusama confirmed that a “war room” had been created to coordinate the recovery efforts. This team continues to monitor on-chain movements related to the stolen funds.
Shibarium Network Upgrades and Recovery Steps
Following the September exploit, Shiba Inu developers implemented several upgrades to strengthen Shibarium’s infrastructure. The improvements aim to remove single points of failure and prevent similar breaches.
The team temporarily suspended the Shibarium legacy RPC endpoint while installing new anti-hack measures. Activity on the network was restored after a 10-day shutdown.
Developers have also created a smart contract that allows the hacker to claim the bounty securely. Before receiving payment, the attacker must authorize the transfer of the frozen KNINE tokens.
Affected users, however, still await updates about their lost assets. The Shiba Inu team has not announced any restitution timeline yet.
In a separate development, fund manager T. Rowe Price filed for a Shiba Inu ETF. This marks the first potential exchange-traded product tied to the meme token.
The filing aims to renew investor confidence in the Shiba Inu ecosystem following recent setbacks. Market watchers are monitoring regulatory responses closely.
The team continues to reassure users of its commitment to network security and transparency. For now, the hacker faces a clear choice to accept 25 ETH or lose everything permanently.
