What happened
One of the top meme coins on the crypto scene, Shiba Inu (SHIB 0.36%), was quite the investor pet on Friday. As of midafternoon today, the digital coin had leaped nearly 7% higher in the preceding 24-hour period, thanks to the launch of a new inter-blockchain transfer platform.
So what
In a tweet, Shiba Inu "ecosystem official" Lucie announced that the Shibarium Bridge had been launched for public testing for the second time. This is a Layer 2 crypto network aimed at fostering interoperability between the blockchains undergirding Shiba Inu and the widely used Ethereum.
Although many investors are enthusiastic about certain meme coins, these digital currencies suffer from a reputation as being relatively unserious projects next to, say, Ethereum or Bitcoin. Many criticize Shiba Inu and its ilk as having little or no practical use.
To their credit, Shiba Inu's developers are clearly laboring to counteract this sentiment. If it ultimately ends up being a successful project, the Shibarium Bridge will hook the coin's users into Ethereum's ecosystem, making the latter's vast array of functionalities available to them. Transactions promise to be relatively quick, painless, and to no longer require the involvement of third parties.
Now what
It's important to bear in mind two key things about the Shibarium Bridge, though. First, while it has made it all the way to public beta testing, that's still not a guarantee that the system will work smoothly or attract a critical mass of users.
Second, Shiba Inu is still the mascot in many investor minds for the low-reputation meme coin crowd. It will have to succeed with projects like the Shibarium Bridge to have good hope of surmounting this.
