Shibarium Search Interest Plunges From 100 to 0 in 45 Minutes; Where Did Shiba Inu Retail Investors Go?

▲ Shiba Inu (SHIB) / ChatGPT-generated image

Public interest in Shibarium, the layer-2 network of the Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem, experienced an extraordinary घटना in which it plunged from peak to bottom within just one hour, revealing a sharp contraction in investor sentiment.

According to crypto-focused outlet U.Today on February 19 (local time), Google Trends analysis showed that the search index for “Shibarium” hit 100% at 1:00 p.m. (UTC) on February 18 before plunging to 0 in just 45 minutes. This sudden halt in retail investor search activity through online portals is considered highly unusual even within the ecosystem and has raised concerns among users.

The sharp decline in search volume appears to be linked to the broader weakness in the virtual asset market and Shiba Inu’s recent price slump. Over the past 30 days, SHIB has fallen 21.1%, fostering bearish sentiment, and it dropped another 4% on the 19th. As market volatility intensified, investors seemingly lost interest, becoming more discouraged by price declines than encouraged by technical developments within the ecosystem.

Despite the price drop, Shiba Inu’s trading volume increased 4.47% from the previous day to $114.27 million, indicating that active transactions are still taking place. The earlier surge in the search index to 100% was likely driven by news that the Shiba Inu team launched a compensation mechanism to support Shibarium users affected by unexpected issues. The compensation scheme was designed to encourage continued participation in the ecosystem.

This is not the first time Shibarium’s metrics have shown extreme volatility that even market experts found perplexing. In January, despite expectations of increased activity following a rebound in SHIB’s price, the network’s total value locked (TVL) fell by 36%, with more than one-third of funds exiting the ecosystem. This underscores the complex structure of the network, where price movements and on-chain activity do not always move in tandem.

As major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) declined 1.92%, casting a chill across the broader market, the Shiba Inu community is closely watching whether this abrupt change in search volume reflects a temporary data anomaly or a genuine drop in public interest. Given past instances in which Shibarium rebounded unexpectedly after extreme volatility, upcoming on-chain data trends over the next few days are expected to be crucial in determining the ecosystem’s recovery.

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