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- On-chain researcher BoringSlueth how Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is behind Shiba Inu’s meteoric rise.
- He also added that the group dumped SHIB holdings on retail investors while creating a hype around it.
Japan’s financial conglomerate SBI Holdings, also a key partner of blockchain startup Ripple, has been reportedly behind the meteoric rise of memecoin Shina Inu (SHIB), reports on-chain researcher BoringSleuth.
The researcher’s in-depth investigation into the financial activities and strategic maneuvers of SBI Holdings hints at the possibility of hidden coordination.
BoringSleuth’s inquiry commenced with a cryptic equation a few days ago: “SHIB = SBIH = SBI Holdings, Japan’s foremost Digital Bank Conglomerate.” In today’s Twitter (X) discussion, the on-chain investigator delved into the sequence of events that contributed to the ascent of Shiba Inu.
BoringSleuth stated: “On July 1st 2020, SBI Group invested $30 million USD into B2C2 for an uncontrolled interest, just 30 days before the token SHIB was launched on the Ethereum blockchain”. This investment holds great importance as it is believed to be the workplace of SHIB’s anonymous founder, Ryoshi.
In a recent research publication, the on-chain investigator asserted that the enigmatic founder of Shiba Inu, Ryoshi, is actually a fusion of two individuals: Ryo Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Maruyama, both of whom previously served as advisors to B2C2 Group. Notably, B2C2 Group is presently the market maker for Robinhood, whose wallet once held more than 25% of the entire SHIB supply.
Is SBI Holdings Behind Shiba Inu’s Meteoric Rise?
At the outset of his discussion, BoringSleuth emphasized an intriguing observation: despite a substantial contribution of SHIB tokens to Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, the token didn’t exhibit significant increases in volume or price during its early days after launching in August 2020. However, this narrative underwent a transformation when all the right pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
BoringSleuth then went on to highlight a key turning point in the summer of 2020. At that time, SBI Group was predominantly known in the crypto community as the largest institutional holder of XRP. Given XRP’s regulatory challenges and the SEC lawsuit, SBI Group executed a strategic maneuver by acquiring 90% of B2C2, a UK-based crypto liquidity and trading firm. The researcher added:
“In January of 2021, SHIB liquidity pools were drastically beefed up. In May of 2021 SHIB saw a massive price surge when Buterin announced he was donating 10% to COVID charities and burning the other 90%. SHIB had its moment, skyrocketing in price. A well played and well-timed story.
BoringSleuth also uncovered that SBI Group indeed had holdings in SHIB through both of their cryptocurrency entities. This made SHIB one of just 11 cryptocurrency assets that they manage on both the SBI VC Trade platform and the Bitpoint exchange.
Digging Deeper Into SBI’s Relation With Shiba Inu
BoringSleuth’s examination of SBI Group’s financial growth is particularly noteworthy. According to SBI Group’s 2023 Investor Presentation, in the 20 years leading up to 2020, SBI Group’s assets never exceeded ¥6 billion. However, in the 2023 report, they reported ¥22.3 billion in assets. In 2019, they achieved an unprecedented profit of ¥52.5 billion, marking a ¥7 billion increase from their 2015 figures.
Fast forward three years and SBI Group’s profits have multiplied sixfold to ¥367 billion. This remarkable increase has boosted their Earnings Per Share (EPS) to nearly ten times its previous value in just three years. While SBI’s revenue experienced a 44% year-over-year growth in 2022, their gross profit expanded by an astounding eightfold. Researcher BoringSlueth questions:
How could a well established, 23 year old Organization, with 87 different companies stretched across 24 different countries around the Globe, all of a sudden grow their Profits by >800%, after experience relatively flat to slighly up growth for 21 years?
He further added that SBI dumped its SHIB holdings on retail investors by creating hype around it. “They experienced growth like this because they sold worthless meme bags to holders who bought into the hype. I know many people who bought and lost. Who didn’t lose? SBI Group and their shareholders” he said.
