Overview
BONE (BONE ShibaSwap) is a governance and utility token within the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Originally launched as the reward and governance token for ShibaSwap, the Shiba Inu decentralized exchange, BONE gained meaningful utility when it was designated as the native gas token for Shibarium — Shiba Inu's Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution launched in August 2023.
With a capped supply of 250 million tokens, BONE sits between SHIB (the flagship memecoin with trillions of tokens) and LEASH (the scarce companion with ~107K supply). BONE's role as Shibarium's gas token gives it actual utility — validators stake BONE to secure the network, and users pay gas fees in BONE for Shibarium transactions.
Shibarium's launch was rocky, experiencing network outages in its first days that required a bridge pause and restart. Despite the shaky start, the L2 has processed millions of transactions and hosts a growing ecosystem of small DeFi and NFT projects. BONE's value is directly tied to Shibarium adoption.
Community
BONE benefits from the massive Shiba Inu community — one of the largest and most active memecoin communities in crypto. The SHIB Army provides built-in awareness and a large pool of potential BONE holders. Community engagement around BONE specifically is moderate; most community activity centers on SHIB itself, with BONE discussed as part of the broader ecosystem narrative. Shibarium-specific communities exist but are smaller than the main SHIB channels.
Liquidity
BONE has decent liquidity for its market cap tier, benefiting from listings on several mid-tier exchanges and DEX pools on both Ethereum and Shibarium. ShibaSwap provides native BONE/ETH liquidity. However, liquidity is thinner than SHIB's, and large trades will experience slippage. CEX listing coverage is moderate — present on some exchanges but absent from top-tier platforms as a standalone listing.
On-Chain Metrics
BONE shows moderate on-chain activity driven by Shibarium gas usage. Validator staking locks up a portion of supply, reducing circulating tokens. Holder counts are in the tens of thousands — meaningful but modest. Shibarium transaction counts have been growing, which directly drives BONE utility. However, Shibarium's TVL and daily active users remain small compared to established L2s like Arbitrum or Optimism.
Development
Development is tied to the broader Shiba Inu ecosystem and Shibarium development. The Shibarium L2 is functional and receiving updates, and ShibaSwap has undergone version upgrades. Development is real but incremental — the team ships updates but at a pace that reflects a small development team. The Shibarium codebase is a modified Polygon Edge fork, which limits technical novelty but provides a proven foundation.
Risk Factors
- Ecosystem dependency: BONE's value is entirely tied to Shiba Inu ecosystem health
- Shibarium adoption uncertainty: The L2 needs sustained growth to justify BONE's gas token role
- Rocky launch history: Shibarium's buggy launch eroded confidence
- Memecoin association: Despite utility, BONE trades on memecoin sentiment
- Competition: Shibarium competes against established L2s with deeper ecosystems
- Anonymous team: Shiba Inu's pseudonymous leadership creates accountability gaps
- SHIB price dependency: BONE price correlates heavily with SHIB, regardless of fundamentals
Conclusion
BONE is the most functional token in the Shiba Inu ecosystem, with genuine utility as Shibarium's gas token and a capped supply that differentiates it from SHIB's inflationary model. The Shibarium L2 gives BONE something most memecoin ecosystem tokens lack: actual demand drivers beyond speculation.
However, BONE's fate is inseparable from the broader Shiba ecosystem. If Shibarium gains meaningful adoption, BONE benefits directly. If SHIB loses cultural relevance and Shibarium remains a niche chain, BONE's utility premium evaporates. The 3.4 score reflects real utility tempered by ecosystem dependency and the inherent uncertainty of memecoin-adjacent projects.