The Shiba Inu community is once again abuzz with discussions surrounding SHIB burns, following platform X user Ed Salomons’ revelation. Salomons shared a screenshot from the ShibTorch section on Shiba Inu’s official website, indicating a failure to load burn information—a sign that the accumulated SHIB count appeared blank.
Underlying Causes of the Burn Mechanism Disruption
Salomons reiterated the fundamental premise of ShibTorch: every transaction should contribute to burning SHIB. Nonetheless, long-standing community member Mazrael clarified that the issue does not mark the cessation of the burning mechanism. According to Mazrael, ShibTorch collects fees in BONE from the Shibarium network, converts them to SHIB, which are then burned on Ethereum. The malfunctioning ShibTorch page stemmed from data being retrieved from a now-defunct indexer.
Mazrael explained, “ShibTorch collects BONE fees from Shibarium, converts them to SHIB, and sends them to a dead address on Ethereum.”
Bridge Suspension and Operational Challenges
Adding to the turmoil, a pause in the bridge guiding SHIB’s route aggravates the situation. Mazrael noted that while the bridge is crucial for ShibTorch’s function, it still continues to accumulate BONE gas fees. Data from ShibWatch indicates that Shibarium’s burn portal initiates a burn only when 1,000 BONE has been amassed. Presently, only 371.37 BONE has been collected, impeding the contract from commencing any burns.
Mini dictionary: An indexer collects transaction and contract data on the blockchain and transmits it to user interfaces. A bridge allows tokens to be transferred from one network to another.
Impact of the 2025 Exploit Persists
Mazrael further pointed out ongoing issues on Ethereum’s side of the operation. The “exitandburn” function demands SHIB from the bridge’s ERC20 track, but release from the “rootchainmanager” component remains blocked following a 2025 exploit. As such, the technical completion of the burn’s second phase remains hindered.
ShibWatch data reveals that Shibarium’s SHIB Torch has so far resulted in the burn of 69.32 billion SHIB.
Mazrael concluded that further burns may fail until the SHIB route bridge is reactivated. Although data on Shib.io has stalled, Mazrael continues to monitor such information directly from contracts through ShibWatch.
According to ShibWatch, the Shibarium ecosystem’s SHIB Torch system has cumulatively burned 69.32 billion SHIB. This represents a total value of $1.27 million, calculated at transaction prices during the period of occurrence.
Mazrael believes the ShibTorch could become a leading force for SHIB burns, second only to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who had earlier sent 410.24 trillion SHIB to dead wallets in one of the largest token burns in crypto history. He added that ShibTorch is undergoing maintenance with concurrent efforts to enhance the bridge and other infrastructure components.
