Coinbase-Linked Wallet Burns 140M SHIB in Largest Single Transfer Since July

According to on-chain data verified by community burn tracker Shibburn, a newly created wallet transferred exactly 140,033,123 Shiba Inu tokens to a dead wallet address in a single transaction. Etherscan records confirm the burning wallet was funded by a Coinbase-associated address and maintained only one visible SHIB transaction before executing the permanent removal. The wallet’s post-burn balance shows zero SHIB holdings and a minimal 0.002 ETH reserve worth approximately $9, indicating a deliberate and final action by an unidentified Coinbase user.

This destruction event stands as the largest individual SHIB burn since July 28, when an anonymous actor removed 600 million tokens from circulation. Between these two major events, most individual burns remained below 100 million SHIB, making the Coinbase-linked transaction particularly notable within the Shiba Inu community. The timing and scale suggest coordinated deflationary efforts, though the identity and motivation behind the wallet operator remain undisclosed.

The October 15 burn contributed to a dramatic 222% increase in daily destruction rates, with nine separate transactions collectively removing approximately 140 million SHIB from circulation. This activity adds to the cumulative 410 trillion SHIB that have been sent to dead addresses over time, according to Shibburn’s tracking data. The most significant deflationary move in SHIB history remains Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s transfer of approximately 410 trillion tokens to a burn contract, which set a precedent for large-scale supply reduction efforts.

Recent deflation initiatives have expanded beyond individual wallet actions to include systematic burns through Shibarium, the project’s Layer-2 scaling solution. These automated burns, handled through Bone ShibaSwap, have collectively removed billions of SHIB from circulation. However, the latest Coinbase-linked transaction represents a return to large-scale individual action rather than protocol-level deflation mechanisms.

Despite the headline-grabbing nature of the 140 million SHIB burn, market reaction was virtually nonexistent. At the time of the transaction, SHIB traded around $0.00001049 and experienced only a 0.15% decline over the preceding 24-hour period. This minimal price movement underscores the mathematical reality facing SHIB investors: with approximately 589 trillion tokens remaining in circulation, even multi-million token burns represent fractional supply reductions.

The vast scale of Shiba Inu’s total supply means that destruction events must become both sustained and substantially larger to meaningfully impact token economics. Market analysts note that while community-led burns maintain holder engagement and support deflationary narratives, they currently lack the scale necessary to alter fundamental supply-demand dynamics. The 140 million SHIB removed represents less than 0.00024% of the total circulating supply, illustrating the challenge of achieving meaningful deflation through individual actions.

The Coinbase-linked burn highlights ongoing tensions within meme cryptocurrency ecosystems between community engagement initiatives and substantive economic impact. While destruction events generate social media attention and reinforce holder loyalty, their practical effect on token valuation remains limited without corresponding demand increases or massive supply reduction. The Shiba Inu project’s continued exploration of both individual burns and protocol-level deflation through Shibarium represents a multi-pronged approach to addressing these challenges.

Observers will monitor whether the October 15 transaction signals the beginning of renewed large-scale burn activity or remains an isolated event. The connection to Coinbase, one of the largest regulated cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, adds institutional credibility to deflation efforts, though the anonymous nature of the wallet operator maintains the decentralized ethos central to meme coin communities. As the Shiba Inu ecosystem evolves, the balance between symbolic community actions and economically meaningful supply reduction will continue to shape its long-term viability.