In the booming sector of decentralized artificial intelligence, the Bittensor project is establishing itself as a leading player. This position is based on continuous innovation, but also on the upcoming halving of its TAO cryptocurrency. We take stock of the situation.
“Nothing has excited me as much since Bitcoin as Bittensor.”
Since its launch in 2021, the Bittensor project has aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model based on an open and decentralized ecosystem. The goal? To offer an effective alternative to the highly centralized solutions implemented by giants such as OpenAI and Google.
This strategy has been a clear success with renowned crypto players, such as the founder of Digital Currency Group—owner of Grayscale—who just announced a few days ago the launch of the asset management company Yuma Asset Management, dedicated to the Bittensor ecosystem.
Nothing has excited me as much since Bitcoin as Bittensor. I’ve put my entrepreneur’s hat back on as CEO of Yuma.
This enthusiasm has a strong institutional focus, according to Arrash Yasavolian, founder of Taoshi, a company that is very active within the Bittensor ecosystem. He believes that “other institutional funds [could] be preparing to launch initiatives around TAO, which could also fuel the anticipation and momentum that is driving the market forward.”
Bittensor continues to develop
At the same time, the Bittensor project continues to develop with the recent implementation of a new bridge solution with EVM blockchains such as Ethereum and Base. This service is expected to be extended to the highly popular Solana in the near future. At the heart of this development is the Virtual TAO (vTAO) token, based on a liquid staking principle. This is a very interesting formula, as it allows users to continue to earn rewards “while using their TAO anywhere.”
At the same time, the Opentensor Foundation has announced a new update to its subnet management, with a limit system that “means that when a new subnet registers, it will take the place of the subnet with the lowest performance.”
This “existential threat” is intended to improve the overall quality of projects developed on Bittensor and comes with a significant change, as “new subnet registrations will now involve a burn instead of a lock” of TAO.
The TAO cryptocurrency is preparing for its first halving
But a more significant milestone is coming at the end of the year, with the first halving applied to the issuance of the TAO cryptocurrency. This division is similar to that implemented for Bitcoin, with the difference that it is the amount of TAO in circulation that triggers it.
In practice, the current number of tokens issued daily—7,200 TAO—will drop to 3,600 TAO around December 10. The question remains as to whether this reduction will have the same effect on the price of TAO as it did for BTC. But also what impact this will have on active contributors to the network, faced with a significant drop in their income.
Meanwhile, the TAO token has seen a significant rise in recent days, with a peak of over 30% that has just pushed its price to around $450, while the cryptocurrency market was struggling to recover from last weekend’s crash.
However, it has fallen 13% over the last 24 hours and has just stabilized below the $400 level. Is this a pause before a return to $500?
