Due diligence report shiba inu [wolf certification demo]

Strictly Private & Confidential
DUE DILIGENCE
Shiba Inu
11 March 2022

2
DISCLAIMER
The advice and recommendations submitted in these documents constitute neither a warranty
of future results by Athena Intelligence SA nor an insurance against risk. This material represents
the best judgment of Athena Intelligence SA and is based solely on information which was
available at the time of writing. This does not constitute financial advice and readers are advised
to do their own research.

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................................................5
PROFILE.........................................................................................................................................................6
CORPORATE STRUCTURE ..............................................................................................................................8
Shiba Inu LLC – California, USA .................................................................................................................8
Shiba Inu LLC – Texas, USA........................................................................................................................9
REPUTATION ...............................................................................................................................................10
LITIGATION..................................................................................................................................................11
SANCTIONS & WATCH LISTS........................................................................................................................12

4
KEY RISK INDICATORS YES/NO/NOT APPLICABLE SCORE
Does the project have a website? Yes 2/2
Has the whitepaper of the project been published? Yes 3/3
Has the project been audited? Yes 3/3
Does the project have a well-defined use case or utility? Yes 1.5/3
Has the project been backed by known investors? No 2/5
Does the project have a diversified number of wallet holders? Yes 7/7
Has the project been listed on any top-tier crypto aggregators? Yes 5/5
Do the project and its key individuals (developers, executives,
partners, advisors) have a discernable public profile?
No 0/10
Do the key individuals have a history of developing successful
projects in this market?
N/A N/A
Have the project and its key individuals been mentioned in the
media in connection with illegal business practices or in any
negative or controversial context?
No 5/10
Are there any evidence that the project and its key individuals
have been involved in litigation?
No 5/10
are listed on blacklists?
No 5/10
have been involved in credit or bankruptcy issues?
No 3.5/7
Is there a corporate architecture behind the project? No 0/5
Are the companies part of the project registered in transparent
jurisdictions?
N/A N/A
Are the key individuals duly registered with the corporate
registries?
N/A N/A
OVERALL RISK ASSESSMENT & TOTAL SCORE MODERATE 42/100

5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Shiba Inu is a decentralized “dog-inspired” or “meme” token, using the Ethereum blockchain technology.
Since its creation in August 2020, Shiba Inu has evolved into an ecosystem, which currently consists of
three key tokens, namely SHIB, LEASH and BONE, and include a number of new utilities, such as a
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform named Shibaswap, an artist incubator named Shiba Inu Incubator
and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Shiba Inu was created in August 2020, by an anonymous person or group known as “Ryoshi”, which
means “fisherman” in Japanese. At the time of this review, Ryoshi remains a mysterious figure and the
true identity of the development team behind the project is enigmatic.
We note that the availability of information regarding Shiba Inu in the public domain is high, although
reliable information regarding its potential founder and development team is low. We also note that this
project has been referenced in various online sources under different perspectives. In this regard, we
believe that the anonymity of the team behind the project could be a point of concern, as no verification
could be run on their personal backgrounds and professional paths.
Another potential point of concern is the current lack of real-world utility of the project. Nonetheless, it
must be noted that the project has been progressively working on developing a number of new utilities,
such as NFTs and a DeFi platform. In addition, the development team behind the project has also been
working on Shibarium, a Layer-2 protocol, to add other utilities to the ecosystem. As such, since its
creation first as a meme token, the project has been implementing new tools and the project’s adoption
has been on the rise.
Furthermore, litigation searches were conducted on the project and its potential team to determine
whether they have been involved in any civil or criminal lawsuit. While no lawsuit was identified, we note
that in December 2021 a Canadian healthcare company and medical information website named “Ask The
Doctor” threatened to initiate a lawsuit against Shiba Inu. Notably, Ask The Doctor has accused the
cryptocurrency of scamming activities and threatened to reveal the project’s founders identity in court.
At this stage, there are no indication that Ask The Doctor has proceeded with the lawsuit.

6
Based on the above elements, Athena Intelligence has assessed Shiba Inu as an overall moderate risk.
PROFILE
Shiba Inu token1
was launched in August 2020 as a rival of Dogecoin, another meme coin. It was built on
top of the Ethereum blockchain and has evolved into an ecosystem, which currently consists of three key
tokens, namely SHIB, LEASH and BONE:
▪ SHIB is the foundational currency of the Shiba Inu ecosystem and was started with a supply of one
quadrillion. Upon creation, Ryoshi, the project’s founder, locked 50% of the supply in Uniswap for
liquidity purposes and sent the remaining 50% to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for
“safekeeping” purposes. In May 2021, Buterin burned 90% of the tokens he received to a dead
wallet and donated the other 10% to the India Covid Crypto Relief Fund – which was at the time
equivalent to USD 1 billion. Thus, Buterin alone removed 40% of Shiba Inu’s total supply.2
▪ LEASH is a rebase token pegged to the price of the Dogecoin, supplied with approximately 100,000
tokens (currently 107,646).
▪ BONE represents the governance aspect of the project and allows holders to vote on important
proposals. BONE has a maximum supply of 250,000,000 tokens.
The Shiba Inu ecosystem also includes a number of additional utilities, such as ShibaSwap (a DeFi
platform), the Shiba Inu Incubator (artist incubator) and Shiboshis (NFTs). Moreover, the team behind the
project has also been working on Shibarium, Layer-2 protocol, to add other utilities to the ecosystem.
Notably, we note that the Shiba Inu team is working on Shibarium in partnership with Unification
foundation, a Singapore-based blockchain solutions provider that has worked with companies like
Amazon and Google.3
1
https://shibatoken.com
2
No further ties have been observed between Shiba Inu and Vitalik Buterin. The latter stated that his decision to
destroy and give away his SHIB came from not wanting to be a “locus of power” in the project.
3
https://timestabloid.com/shibarium-shiba-inu-shib-layer-2-scaling-solution-will-launch-on-public-testnet-very-
soon

7
As set forth above, Shiba Inu was founded by anonymous person or group known as “Ryoshi”, which
means “fisherman” in Japanese. To this day, Ryoshi remains a mysterious figure.
We note that Shiba Inu cryptocurrency’s official telegram account has indicated nine individuals as part
of their organization:
▪ Ryoshi (Owner/Creator) @ryoshiresearch;
▪ Shytoshi Kusama (Mod/Dev) @Shytoshikusama;
▪ Eric M (Mod/Dev) @ericmoralesg;
▪ Crypto dex- Shibalover (Mod) @sgarza79;
▪ Jeff King (Mod) @jeffking_tkc;
▪ Atitlan (Mod) @atitlan8;
▪ Davids (Mod) @Nakata_Legend;
▪ Rob (Mod) @aywhatsgood1;
▪ Ray (Mod) @Ray689.
The real identities of the above individuals have remained undisclosed according to our review.
Ryoshi conceived Shiba Inu as a decentralized community token, meaning that every decision regarding
development, improvements and changes to the project is decided by holders. According to him, “there
is no man accountable, no person responsible and no entity has the key to the kingdom”. Ryoshi also
stated that he does not own SHIB tokens.4
4
https://allhailtheshiba.medium.com/i-am-ryoshi-5fe57841f8f1

8
Regarding metadata, Shiba Inu’s official website has been registered on 3 August 2020 in San Francisco,
California, with the phone number +14806242505.5
This phone number is notably associated to a certain
Michael C. Hinckley. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is an IT professional, who has been working as a
Senior Project Manager at Anthem Inc (USA) since December 2014.6
Thorough searches could not confirm
any further connection between Mr. Hinckley with Shiba Inu and/or cryptocurrencies from other online
sources.
CORPORATE STRUCTURE
Our research has identified two companies named Shiba Inu LLC registered in mid-2021 in the USA (see
Tables below). There are however no strong evidence to suggest that these companies are linked to the
official project.
Shiba Inu LLC – California, USA
NAME Shiba Inu LLC (202117610037)
DATE OF INCORPORATION 22.06.2021 – Active
DIRECTORS/ADMINISTRATORS Darian J Lau – Director
SHAREHOLDERS N/A
ADDRESS 901 Jefferson Street, No. 303, Oakland CA 94607, California, USA
MAIN ACTIVITIES Real estate investment
Shiba Inu LLC was incorporated on 22 June 2021 and has for principal activity investments in real estate.
It is registered at 901 Jefferson Street, No. 303, Oakland CA 94607, California, USA, which appears as
housings and not offices. The company has been managed by Darian Lau. Note that shareholders are not
disclosed by the Californian corporate register.
5
https://domainbigdata.com/shibatoken.com
6
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhinckley/

9
Born on 15 November 1996, Mr. Lau has reportedly been working in the finance sector since few years in
San Francisco, USA. He started his career as an intern at Morgan Stanley in Private Wealth Management
(from November 2016 to August 2017), before holding the position of Relationship Banker at JP Morgan
Chase (from April 2018 to March 2019), and then working for the First Republic Bank, as a Preferred
Banker Associate (from March 2019 to February 2021) and a Preferred Banker (from February 2021 to
now). Mr Lau graduated in 2018 from the University of San Francisco and obtained his bachelor’s degree
in Business Administration Finance Cum Lade.7
Regarding his social media profiles, we note that his Twitter account, where he is named “Thomas Lau”,
is filled with tweets related to cryptocurrency in Chinese, a country where Shiba Inu is currently highly
popular. His followers, approximately 1,000, are mainly in the cryptocurrency field.8
Shiba Inu LLC – Texas, USA
NAME Shiba Inu LLC (0804214035)
DATE OF INCORPORATION 31.08.2021 – Active
DIRECTORS/ADMINISTRATORS Keiler Jardinez Sanchez – Director
SHAREHOLDERS N/A
ADDRESS 13211 Southview LN, Dallas, TX 75240, Texas, USA
MAIN ACTIVITIES N/A
Shiba Inu LLC was incorporated on 31 August 2021, i.e. a few weeks after the incorporation of Shiba Inu
LLC from California. It is registered at 13211 Southview LN, Dallas, TX 75240, Texas, USA, which appears
as housings and not offices. The company has been managed by a Keiler Jardinez Sanchez. Similarly as in
California, shareholders are not disclosed by the Texan corporate register.
7
www.linkedin.com/in/darianlau
8
https://twitter.com/DarianLau

10
Our review did not uncovered substantial information regarding Mr. Jardinez Sanchez’s activities or any
link to cryptocurrency.9
REPUTATION
According to our review, Shiba Inu has been referenced in online sources under a mixed light, mostly from
social media, forums and news articles.
Shiba Inu was observed in online sources as one of the most effective cryptocurrencies in 2021. Its official
Twitter account has attracted 2.7 million followers in 15 months. Moreover, Shiba Inu’s supporters have
created a group named SHIBArmy on social media platforms, destined to communicate, promote and
inform about this cryptocurrency. To this day, SHIBArmy has over 457,300 Twitter followers and 467,000
members on Reddit.10
Among the cryptocurrency community, Shiba Inu is believed to be a good long-term investment. Some
key figures such as CEO of KuCoin Johnny Lyu have backed this theory.11
Most specifically Mr. Lyu’s belief
is drawn from the fact that, Shiba Inu benefits from its low price and young investors who do not own a
lot of assets yet want to profit from crypto as well.
However, the token has also received critics about its abundant supply and “fear of missing out” (FOMO),
which is encouraging holders to believe in massive upside. David Schwartz, technical director of Ripple,
mocked Shiba Inu on Twitter, saying that “Someone stole like a zillion Shiba Inu Coins today, losses were
estimated at like USD 1,37”.
Other analysis also pointed out the lack of real-world utility of Shiba Inu, that only 365 merchants
worldwide are accepting it as payment.12
Even though the majority of cryptocurrencies have no real-world
use case, Shiba Inu’s involvement in real world is particularly low.
9
www.facebook.com/KeilerJS2012
10
www.reddit.com/r/SHIBArmy
11
www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2021/11/7/22765279/shib-coin-expert-shiba-inu-cryptocurrency-investments
12
www.fool.com/investing/2021/11/30/5-reasons-shiba-inu-most-dangerous-crypto-to-own

11
Furthermore, we note that Shiba Inu has reportedly promoted donations to the US dogs shelter Shiba Inu
Rescue Association (SIRA) through the Amazon Smile Program. Of note, no cryptocurrency has been
exchanged or given to SIRA and Shiba Inu has only used it as benefactor.
On the other hand, one individual from Illinois named Luis Rodriguez, has claimed in December 2021 to
have donated to SIRA whilst mentioning the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency. He stated on SIRA’s Facebook page
having used the Amazon Smile Program in favor of the association, while implying Shiba Inu
cryptocurrency.
KEY RISK INDICATORS IDENTIFIED BY ATHENA INTELLIGENCE YES/NO/NOT KNOWN
Does the individual and the key companies have any discernible media profile
in the general or specialized press?
No
Has the individual been mentioned in the media in connection with, illegal
business practices (money laundering, corruption, tax evasion, fraud,
misappropriation of public property etc.) or in any negative or controversial
context?
No
LITIGATION
Athena Intelligence has conducted litigation checks on Shiba Inu and its potential team to determine if
they have been involved in any civil or criminal lawsuits. We have not identified any litigation that is
related to Shiba Inu or its potential team members at the time of this review.
However, a Canadian healthcare company and medical information website, named “Ask The Doctor”,
has threatened to initiate a lawsuit in the UK against Shiba Inu – and especially against its member
Shytoshi Kusama – in December 2021. “Ask The Doctor” notably stated it will reveal the identity of Mr
Kusama in court.13
“Ask The Doctor” has reportedly been a crypto supporter for several years and is holding 10 different
cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet, including the Shiba Inu token. Whilst “Ask The Doctor” often
promoted Shiba Inu on Twitter, it stopped since late December 2021 after having launched accusations
13
https://bitcoinist.com/company-dumped-its-shib-holdings-to-sue-founders

12
of scamming activities against Shiba Inu. In return, Shytoshi Kusama claimed that “Ask The Doctor” was
an illegal business.14
There are no further information regarding the status of the lawsuit.
Have any of the key directors, principals or beneficial owners been
involved in litigation, either as a claimant or plaintiff?
No
SANCTIONS & WATCH LISTS
Athena Intelligence carried out a review of approximately 700 global records comprising official anti-
money laundering lists, international sanctions, debarment lists and prohibitive lists. Shiba Inu and its
potential team do not feature on these lists or sanctions.
The consulted lists include, amongst others, the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list
("SDN List") and all other sanctions lists administered by OFAC, all US related issued sanctions, also at
state level; all UN/WorldBank/IMF Watchlists and Sanctions, all EU, Sanctions, including national states
financial ministry sanctions, all LATAM and Asian continent watch lists.
Has the individual been listed in any international regulatory blacklists? No
Have any of the key companies been listed on any international regulatory
blacklists?
No
14
https://cointelegraph.com/news/medical-q-a-platform-ask-the-doctor-files-lawsuit-against-shiba-inu-engages-
war-of-words-on-twitter

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