Shytoshi Kusama Reportedly Filmed at IVS2024 in Japan, But There’s a Catch

Youri Molchan

Shiba Inu leader Shytoshi Kusama has kept his promise to introduce himself to the public, but there are big nuances

The mysterious leader of the Shiba Inu team who uses social media under the pseudonym Shytoshi Kusama has finally introduced himself to the public and was even recorded in Japan during his appearance at the annual Web3 startup event in Japan – IVS 2024.

There is a big problem here, however: no one can really tell if this was the real leader of SHIB since it was impossible to see his face hidden behind two masks.

Mysterious Shytoshi Kusama appears at the SHIB booth

Japanese SHIB fan @kuro_9696_9696 shared a video from the above-mentioned Japanese event, where a man in black clothes, two masks and a hood is talking to IVS 2024 attendees who visit the SHIB booth at that conference.

The man is wearing what looks like a Batman costume with a well and a mask reminiscent of a plague doctor mask covering the upper part of his face which sits on top of a mask that hides his entire face and only has slits for him to look through.

Earlier this week, Kusama teased her first-ever public appearance at IVS 2024. On Thursday, she tweeted that around noon local time, the SHIB Army was welcome to come to her “first-ever meetup.”

Shytoshi Kusama keeps a pseudonym

The SHIB leader has kept his real name and appearance a secret since taking over from the enigmatic founder Ryoshi in 2021. He later revealed that Shy in his pseudonym represented his natural desire to avoid the public eye, -toshi honored Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, and Kusama was a Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama whom he loved.

In recent years, Shytoshi has tweeted that his mentor advised him to reveal himself and that the head of SHIB was therefore considering doing so. However, last year in August, he promised to give a speech at the ETH Toronto event while introducing Shibarium, but in reality, he did not make an appearance but simply presented a recording of his speech processed by AI software.

SHIB price has somewhat reacted positively to Kusama’s “coming out.” After a massive 15% drop overnight, the coin has regained 5% of its losses.

About the Author

Youri Molchan

Yuri is interested in technology and technical innovations. He has been writing about DLT and crypto since 2017. He believes that blockchain and cryptocurrencies have the potential to transform the world in many areas in the future. He has written for many crypto media outlets. His articles have been cited by crypto influencers such as Tyler Winklevoss, John McAfee, CZ Binance, Max Keiser, etc.