Shibarium Compensation Plan After September Incident: SOU Mechanism Explained

In the year-end announcement, Shiba Inu developer Kaal Dhairya disclosed a compensation framework for Shibarium users to the community. The core of this compensation system is an innovative mechanism called SOU (Shib Owes You), designed to track and handle affected users’ losses in a transparent and verifiable manner.

SOU: On-Chain Debt Recording System

SOU is an on-chain verifiable record, where each affected Shibarium user holds a corresponding SOU NFT. Unlike promises in traditional databases, SOU uses cryptographic proofs to permanently record debt information on the Ethereum blockchain, ensuring immutability.

The operation logic of this system includes:

• Tracking the principal amount, i.e., the specific value still owed to Shibarium users
• Reducing the principal when compensation is issued
• Decreasing the outstanding amount as community donations flow in
• Allowing users to verify their original requested amount, received compensation, and remaining balance at any time
• Supporting merging, splitting, or transferring SOU NFTs

Dual-layer Architecture: Accounting Layer and Liquidity Layer

Shiba Inu team member Lucie further explained the SOU operational framework. This compensation plan is divided into two levels, each with its responsibilities:

First Layer: Official Accounting Layer on Ethereum

The SOU NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain form the accounting foundation of this mechanism, maintained by the official Shiba Inu team. These NFTs represent the actual assets lost by users during the Plasma Bridge vulnerability incident. Their key features are transparency, auditability, and dynamic updates on-chain, precisely marking the amount owed to each user. It is important to note that this layer’s responsibility is to track debts, not to directly raise compensation funds.

Second Layer: Community Recovery Layer on BSC Chain

In contrast, the SOU on the BSC blockchain operates very differently. Lucie clarified that the SOU on BSC is not a simple copy of the Ethereum NFTs but a liquidity generation and fee revenue mechanism. Currently, projects like Woofswap are involved in building this layer.

The purpose of this layer is to generate trading volume and fees, thereby providing funding to support recovery and ecosystem rebuilding. According to Lucie, the SOU on BSC represents the community’s commitment to contribute to the recovery efforts. It is neither an IOU certificate nor a legal claim, nor does it fall under official SHIB products; rather, it is a financial pipeline that directs trading activities toward donations and reconstruction.

Synergy of the Two-layer Mechanism

The two layers form a complementary system: the SOU NFTs on Ethereum serve as a factual record layer, precisely defining who is owed what; the SOU on BSC acts as a liquidity engine, generating funds through trading activities to cover these debts. One is the “debt list,” and the other is the “debt repayment pathway,” jointly constituting the Shiba Inu ecosystem recovery framework.