Dogecoin Founder Calls SHIB Metaverse A Cash Grab With Little Utility

Dogecoin founder Billy Markus, better known by his online pseudonym Shibetoshi Nakamoto, criticized memecoin Shiba Inu’s plans to launch its own metaverse, likening the move to a cash grab with little utility.

Shiba Inu recently announced plans to launch its own virtual reality offering, called SHIB: The Metaverse,” which will feature 100,595 land plots available for sale. Shib Inu, which had fashioned itself as a “dogecoin killer” in its early days, has shot up in popularity over the past few years, and is currently one of the most traded memecoins.

While it still lags Doge in terms of overall market value, it has narrowed that gap drastically. The project has also attempted to present itself as more than a memecoin by establishing a broader ecosystem, with forays into NFTs and by launching other tokens.

Dogecoin founder hits out at metaverse plans

In a series of tweets and comments, Markus said that Shib developers should focus more on supporting the project, as opposed to giving themselves “100-300 million additional dollars from Shib holders.”

How is making a random metaverse and selling fake land with Ethereum adding utility to their project. If people wanna give the devs even more money go ahead but if I was a shib holder I would be annoyed.

-Markus said on Twitter 

He also expressed doubt over Shiba Inu’s plans to let land holders on its metaverse passively generate income.

Markus criticizes profit-hungry developers

The Dogecoin founder, who is no longer a part of the project, also criticized crypto developers that prioritized personal profits over building their projects. He said that the world’s biggest memecoin would have certainly failed, if he and co-founder Jackson Palmer were “greedy.”

Markus said the crypto space was “overflowing” with excessively greedy creators, who were still rewarded despite their products failing.

The greater fool game is stronger than actual utility, and that’s why the space accomplishes very little.

Markus said, commenting on the recent Will Smith Inu rally.

While dogecoin had initially positioned itself as a parody of crypto payment systems, it attracted several investors by showing some merit as a legitimate payment system. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also a vocal proponent of the token, and recently revealed holdings in it.