During the latest episode of the AB Majlis podcast, Shiba Inu lead developers Shytoshi Kusama and Kaal Kaal Dhairya revealed their intention to fully transfer control of the project to the community by the end of this year. This strategic move is part of a broader initiative to realize what they describe as the “true decentralization” of the network, which aligns closely with the original vision of the project’s founder Ryoshi.

Why Leading Shiba Inu Developers Will Step Down

Shytoshi Kusama, a key figure in the development and propagation of Shiba Inu since Ryoshi’s departure, articulated the nuances of this transition. “At the end of this year, we will hand everything over to the community and step down,” Kusama explained, emphasizing that the decision is rooted in strengthening the community rather than withdrawing from the project.

Kusama’s colleague Dhairya echoed this sentiment, reflecting on their journey from regular participants to leaders of a crypto revolution. “We are regular community members. We started by buying tokens from exchanges like everyone else. And we have completed the experiment and vision that Ryoshi set out,” Dhairya said.

Throughout their roles as Shiba Inu’s lead developers, both Kusama and Dhairya have maintained strict anonymity, using masked appearances and voice modulation in public communications. Dhairya has called their anonymity a “superpower,” allowing them to seamlessly blend in with the community, providing the genuine and unbiased feedback that is crucial to the organic development of the project. “That’s how we can blend in with the community and get their input when we need it, and just get the real honest feedback when we need it,” Dhairya explained.

In an era where the public personas of crypto founders often influence the perception of projects, Kusama and Dhairya’s choice to remain anonymous is both a philosophical and strategic decision, emphasizing the project’s community-focused approach over individual leadership.

Looking ahead, the departure of Kusama and Dhairya represents a significant test for Shiba Inu’s decentralized model. The transition promises to strengthen the community not only in governance, but also in the evolution of the project’s technological underpinnings. The focus is on harnessing the collective genius of its members to advance the adoption of Web3 technologies beyond the confines of conventional Web2 paradigms.

Shytoshi Kusama emphasized this aspect, stating, “The genius of Shib is the power of community.” This sentiment was further reinforced by his comments about personal anonymity and the irrelevance of his public persona to the success of the project.

“It’s not that I have that. I believe, as Ryoshi always said, that I’m nothing special. I’m nobody special. Definitely not a beauty, not in any way. So there’s no need for my face to become a public figure. Let the mask remain famous.”

He added: “Hundreds of millions of views would agree with you. But the power of SHIB is not because of me or because of Kaal (Dhairya),” he noted, reinforcing the ethos that “the genius of Shib is the power of the community.” Kusama also emphasized what makes the Shiba Inu project special: “It’s because of the community. And that’s what’s most important, the technology, to bring web2 to web3, and the brand of a very special dog breed that has gone viral as a meme many times.”

At the time of going to press, SHIB was trading at $0.00001315.

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