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Shiba Inu (SHIB) took a hit after its Layer-2 network Shibarium fell victim to a sophisticated exploit, with the prime ecosystem token sliding from the $0.0000142 zone back to $0.0000138 and giving up most of the gains it had built earlier in the week.
What's become known later is that attackers had managed to get hold of 10 out of 12 validator keys, using stolen money from the Shibarium bridge — including 224.57 ETH worth about $1 million and 92.6 billion SHIB worth about $1.3 million — to buy 4.6 million BONE and temporarily take control of the validator set long enough to push through a malicious state.
For SHIB, the price reaction has been immediate and heavy. The token is currently pinned near the $0.0000135-$0.0000137 range, which is a fragile support that's held since late August.
If that floor breaks, the next level to watch is $0.0000130, hitting which would undo Shiba Inu coin's late-summer base and signal a deeper correction. The recent sell-off shows that the SHIB market is still really sensitive to security headlines, and with $2.4 million confirmed stolen, there's less appetite for aggressive dip-buying.
Shiba Inu's BONE price reaction
After being used as the lever for the exploit itself, BONE, the governance and gas token of Shibarium, has also taken a hit. Trading at around $0.20, its value first soared by 54% and then fell by around 46%.
The damage to SHIB in terms of price is already clear, but there's a risk that it could get worse if confidence doesn't come back quickly.
Unless developers can show that the vulnerability is sealed and the safeguards are in place, SHIB's weak support zone may not hold, leaving the token exposed to fresh lows while BONE continues to trade heavily due to people losing trust.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team