K9 Finance Issues Ultimatum to Shiba Inu Team

TLDR

• K9 Finance threatens to sever ties with Shiba Inu.
• Bridge exploit led to over $700,000 in losses.
• Deadline for reimbursement is January 6, 2026.

According to a recent report, K9 Finance, the official liquid staking partner of Shibarium, has threatened to cut ties with the platform. The threat comes unless the Shiba Inu team reimburses users affected by a bridge exploit that occurred in September 2025. The deadline for this reimbursement is set for January 6, 2026.

This announcement was made via a public statement on X (formerly Twitter), where K9 Finance stated that private communications with the Shiba Inu team have stalled. The exploit reportedly led to losses exceeding $700,000 in KNINE tokens and other assets.

K9 Finance’s Position and Ultimatum

K9 Finance operates as a decentralized liquid staking platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) on Shibarium. It has been recognized as the official partner to the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s Layer 2 network. The DAO account on X was responsible for delivering the ultimatum to the public.

The statement from K9 Finance reads: “K9 Finance DAO has adhered to every requirement set forth by the Shiba regarding the Shibarium bridge and to make affected users whole. At this point, we have not received any further communication or guidance in our private discussions with the Shiba team. This decision should not be seen as an attempt to instigate drama; rather, it is a necessary measure to provide clarity for our stakeholders and ensure responsible governance.”

Impact of the Shibarium Bridge Exploit

The Shibarium bridge exploit in question resulted in the theft of diverse digital assets. The affected assets include 224.5 ETH (approximately $1 million) and 926 billion SHIB tokens (approximately $1.27 million). Other ecosystem tokens like LEASH, TREAT, ROAR, SHIFU, and KNINE were also impacted during this breach.

Following the exploit, the price of SHIB fell by 36% to $0.00000826. Despite these losses, no details regarding funding impacts, grants, or institutional involvement have been disclosed. Moreover, no specific data related to changes in total value locked (TVL), liquidity shifts, or staking flows have been provided, other than the noted 170% increase in token burns.

The Shiba Inu team had proposed a 50 ETH reward to the hacker after the breach. However, by the time of the report, they had not responded publicly to K9 Finance’s ultimatum. The ongoing silence from the team adds further uncertainty to the future collaboration between the two entities. For more information on the recent events in the crypto market, visit CryptoEconomyEN.