Bitcoin is now, virtually paradoxically to its unique ethos, being adopted by Wall Avenue. Bittensor is a brand new finger to “the man” of centralization. It’s a scorching scorching narrative. With the rise of AI, considerations have arisen concerning the tech’s focus and centralization.
Bittensor, and its cryptocurrency, TAO, goals to decentralize AI companies. Regardless of shedding almost 53% in 2025, some consider Bittensor is a next-generation Bitcoin for the AI age. However how reasonable is that this optimism?
The Premise and Promise of Bittensor
The community simply accomplished a reward halving on December 15, decreasing its provide of minted cash. The issue is, many have heard this narrative earlier than.
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With the primary Bittensor halving full, I can’t assist however recall Bitcoin’s first halving, which I used to be lucky sufficient to witness. Historical past doesn’t repeat, however the rhymes are unmistakable; each the parallels and variations between the 2 are hanging:
Identical: A Decentralized…
— Greg Schvey (@GSchvey) December 15, 2025
Loads of cryptocurrencies have claimed to be “the next Bitcoin” – as a result of there’s cash to be made with that story.
Nonetheless, there may very well be some actual worth for Bittensor over the long term – although it has hurdles to beat, as any form of formidable crypto venture like this is able to.
The story of Bittensor will not be not like Bitcoin: There are highly effective incumbents, and a brand new community can tackle and even upend this world order.
For years, influencers rehashed an typically comparable, anthemic phrase of “long Bitcoin, short the banks”. However that now Bitcoin is embedded in Wall Avenue banks and publicly traded DAT shares, this narrative labored effectively.
Bittensor’s worth historical past since change itemizing in 2023. Supply: CoinGecko
A premise is that AI firms reminiscent of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Deepseek have turn into too huge and horrifying, and folks must be involved about their rise.
Decentralizing synthetic intelligence workloads and changing proof-of-work puzzles with precise real-use AI is Bittensor’s primary gist.
“Bitcoin proved that cryptographic incentives could coordinate a global network of hardware to secure a ledger,” Evan Malanga, an govt at Yuma, one of many largest backers of the Bittensor platform, informed BeInCrypto. “Bittensor takes that same mechanism and redirects the compute power toward something that has direct benefits in today’s world: Training and running AI models, applications, and infrastructure.”
One other Bitcoin? Actually?
It’s necessary to notice that Yuma is a subsidiary of Digital Forex Group (DCG), whose agency was one of many earliest backers of assorted cryptocurrencies, together with Bitcoin, Zcash, and Decentraland.
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It was additionally an early investor in Coinbase, Circle, and Chainalysis. DCG’s CEO, Barry Silbert, is clearly on board with Bittensor – which for some may very well be thought-about a constructive sign.
Bittensor does have some Bitcoin-like traits. There are solely 21 million models of TAO, clearly a nod to BTC. Bittensor additionally has halvings, which in December lowered its rewards from 7,200 TAO to three,600 per day.
As a substitute of the energy-intensive proof-of-work riddles Bitcoin makes use of, Bittensor makes use of one thing referred to as proof-of-intelligence, the place nodes should carry out duties to show their functionality in dealing with AI workloads. The higher a node’s job output high quality, the upper the possibility it may well obtain rewards in TAO.
Nodes which can be allowed on the Bittensor community are then assigned a subnet, of which there are presently 128. These subnets have totally different AI-related specialties.
“Each subnet is like a specialized marketplace for a specific type of AI service – some focus on image generation, others on language models,” mentioned Arrash Yasavolian, the cofounder of Taoshi, which runs a monetary intelligence subnet.
Centralization Versus Decentralization
Considerations about AI typically heart on just a few firms having concentrated energy. Focus in any business usually means increased costs and poorer companies for purchasers – typically each on the identical time.
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Bittensor goals to make AI extra of a worldwide good with its decentralization traits, like having impartial node operators energy the subnets for its synthetic intelligence capabilities.
“AI is redefining every industry,” mentioned Ken Jon Miyachi, CEO of BitMind, which runs a subnet centered on deepfake detections on Bittensor. ”Bitcoin revolutionized the shop of worth, however Bittensor is revolutionizing whole financial methods by making intelligence a worldwide commodity.”
However how decentralized is that this community? On July 10, 2024, the Bittensor community was halted amidst an $8 million hack that drained wallets. The chain was put right into a “safe mode” that produced blocks with none transaction capabilities.
“There are legitimate centralization concerns today,” famous Taoshi’s Yasavolian. “The OpenTensor foundation is the sole party responsible for validating blocks. The top 10 largest subnet validators comprise about 67% of total network stake weight.”
Some would possibly argue that Bittensor’s safety dangers and skill to close down the community are antithetical to decentralization. Proponents of the community say that full decentralization will come later, changing into “credibly neutral” the identical manner Bitcoin is meant to be for store-of-value functions.
“Bittensor’s long-term strategic goal is to become a credibly neutral AI development tool. It’s progressive decentralization, similar to how Ethereum evolved,” Yasavolian added.
The AI Alarm
One strategy to enhance the decentralization of Bittensor and to listen to extra voices of dissent is by way of subnet operators. These teams are spending money and time to put money into the community, they usually, like Yasavolian, voice their opinions.
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And subnet progress has been robust. Because the begin of 2025, the variety of subnets has elevated 97%, from 65 to 128.
Sergey Khusnetdinov, Director of AI at Acquire Ventures, sees the subnet neighborhood as critically necessary to Bittensor’s success.
“The result is a meritocratic, self-improving ecosystem where useful intelligence doesn’t come from one lab or one corporation but emerges organically from a worldwide, permissionless community.”
Centralized AI firms are valued fairly ridiculously today – OpenAI has a $500 billion valuation, Anthropic is at $350 billion. China-based Deepseek is rumored to have a $150 billion. With that in thoughts, what can be the worth of a strong AI community like Bittensor?
Miyachi, the BitMind CEO who runs a deepfake detection subnet, bullishly believes the Bittensor community might sometime excel over that of Bitcoin.
“Value produced by the Bittensor ecosystem could surpass Bitcoin’s in the long run,” he informed BeInCrypto.
This might in the end depend upon how folks understand centralized AI methods over time, or whether or not anybody is anxious. However Bitcoin’s had enormous runs as folks reacted to financial instability and centralization failures reminiscent of a worldwide pandemic, financial institution runs, and fiat foreign money debasement.
Possibly quickly, influencers is likely to be saying, “long Bittensor, short centralized AI.” However who is aware of? Generally the longer term could be even stranger than AI might predict.
