Could Shiba Inu founder Ryoshi be gearing up for a return? That’s certainly what some SHIB holders think after the creator deleted all of his tweets and Medium posts earlier today.
A year after his disappearance from SHIB, Ryoshi mysteriously deleted his posts, purging the link to SHIB. Since then, the likes of Shytoshi Kusama have led SHIB, creating the Shiba Inu Metaverse, Shiba Inu Games, and much more.
So, after almost a year of silence, could Ryoshi be making a return?
Ryoshi Deletes SHIB Posts
The anonymous Shiba founder Ryoshi, who has not tweeted since May 2021, now has returned in some form to Twitter, but only to delete his tweets and change his profile picture. Similarly, his Medium blog, entitled ‘All Hail The Shiba’, has also disappeared.
The Medium blog has now reappeared, but it seems unlikely this is now hosted by Ryoshi. Instead, it is likely an individual has created an account using the same URL, based on our research.
His profile picture is now an image of the Buddhist Jetsun Milarepa, a famous Tibetan poet and yogi. Meanwhile, Ryoshi also changed his header image to a picture of a half-moon and cloud.
Alongside this, Ryoshi has removed his Twitter bio. It previously said: "SHIB and LEASH Founder. We Do it for teh ppl."
Ryoshi has changed his profile picture before. In April, he changed his Medium icon to a bird.
However, what makes this significant is the timing. Ryoshi’s final Medium post - I AM RYOSHI - was first posted on May 30, 2021. And now, exactly one year later, he has returned to delete all of these posts.
So what could it mean?
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Shytoshi Kusama Pays Respect To Ryoshi
In a blog post following Ryoshi deleting his post, Shiba Inu project lead Shytoshi Kusama has paid tribute to the anonymous founder of SHIB.
Shyotshi started the article by stating: "I can imagine the FUD the ShibArmy must be facing and it is for this reason I’m writing this article."
"Ryoshi was, and is, one of the most successful anonymous founders of any project ever," Shytoshi continued, revealing even he does not know his identity.
Shytoshi explained Ryoshi's disappearance by comparing it to the narrative idea of a master disappearing, leaving the challenge in the hands of an apprentice, to help them grow further. "It is befitting that as we grow nearer to a completed Ryoshi's Vision and realising global decentralisation, he would leave it up to us."
However, while Shytoshi certainly has his theories, what are the other alternatives?
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Could a Ryoshi Return Be Coming?
There are plenty of theories and ideas about what Ryoshi’s actions could mean. The first, and perhaps safest option, is that it means nothing.
Ryoshi always emphasised he was replaceable and would eventually disappear. Perhaps this is the final act he does before severing further ties to the project.
In his now-deleted Medium post, Ryoshi once said:
I am not important, and one day I will be gone without notice.
Alternatively, this could be a more malicious attack. Perhaps a hacker gained access to his accounts and deleted them maliciously. Indeed, with crypto hacks and attacks prevalent, hackers often gain access to large accounts to promote their own NFT projects or cryptocurrencies.
Similarly, we’ve also seen several cryptocurrency communities claiming that this could be linked to a new token or support for their own token. This - like everything related to Ryoshi here - is highly speculative, however. Perhaps even just seeking to gain more marketing through an alleged link.
It's also important to note that while some individuals are questioning whether this move is a negative for SHIB, Ryoshi has not been involved with the token for over a year. Indeed, Ryoshi has previously said he does not own a large amount of SHIB, either.
The final possibility, which SHIB holders would perhaps hope for the most, is that Ryoshi returns. One year on, the founder comes back to help push the token further with new projects and ideas.
However, until the next move - which could be quite some time off, if it ever happens - all SHIB can do is wait.
Regardless, the removal of Ryoshi’s Medium blog has some more concerning consequences. Outside of the Shiba Inu Woofpaper, his blog posts contained key writings about SHIB and further projects on the Shiba Inu roadmap. These spanned from the idea of ShibaCon to Shibarium, and much more.
While the Medium posts have been saved and posted elsewhere, the removal of this key document and URL could still reduce its circulation.
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