SHIB's Legal Victory vs. Lack of Utility: The Meme Coin's Challenging Journey

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has recently gained renewed attention after being added to the FTSE Grayscale Crypto Sectors Framework, sparking fresh debates about whether the token could surpass the $0.0001 mark. This framework, a collaboration between Grayscale Investments and FTSE Russell, organizes digital currencies into five distinct sectors, with

now categorized under "Consumer & Culture." According to Shiba Inu’s marketing lead Lucie, this placement highlights the project’s increasing status as a digital asset valued for its cultural significance and strong community backing, as mentioned in a .

This development holds weight for SHIB investors, as the framework is consistent with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Generic Listing Standards (GLS). These standards enable exchanges to list crypto ETPs (exchange-traded products) without requiring separate SEC approval for each asset. Under these guidelines, SHIB is one of 11 cryptocurrencies that qualify for spot ETPs, provided certain requirements are met. Grayscale’s findings point to SHIB’s inclusion as evidence of its enduring vision and robust structure.

Nevertheless, experts warn that SHIB’s journey toward significant price gains is still filled with obstacles. A recent review of the token’s ecosystem points to a major lack of utility, especially within its layer-2 network, Shibarium. Since early October 2025, Shibarium’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has stayed below $1 million, which is far below its potential and signals limited user engagement, according to a

. This stagnation has led some analysts to describe SHIB’s $0.0001 goal as a “dead end,” citing the imbalance between its enormous circulating supply and the slow rate of token burns, the analysis notes.

These foundational problems are intensified by broader trends in the market. Investment is increasingly moving toward sectors like AI computing and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks), which provide practical uses and revenue streams, the analysis observes. Meanwhile, SHIB’s reputation as a “meme coin” remains, discouraging institutional investors and developers who are looking for projects with clear, real-world applications. The lack of significant activity on Shibarium further reinforces this view, with analysts noting that the network has yet to carve out a distinctive value proposition compared to other established Layer-2 solutions.

Despite these challenges, the SHIB community has shown signs of determination. A recent spike in token burns—soaring by more than 42,000% in just 24 hours—briefly pushed the token’s price up to $0.00001062, according to the Yahoo analysis. SHIB is also facing competition from new

projects that feature aggressive tokenomics and AI-based utilities, prompting the original project to innovate in order to stay relevant, the report adds.

SHIB’s future success will depend on its ability to prove real-world utility and draw liquidity to Shibarium. While community-driven efforts are valuable, they must be supported by strategic alliances and incentives for developers to encourage broader adoption. For SHIB to evolve from a speculative token into a core part of Web3 infrastructure, its team must focus on building the ecosystem rather than chasing short-term price gains, the analysis suggests.

As the digital asset market continues to shift, SHIB’s addition to the FTSE Grayscale framework provides some optimism. However, the ongoing structural hurdles make it clear that achieving major price milestones will require more than regulatory acknowledgment—it will take a substantial increase in utility and user adoption.