Bittensor’s Upcoming Halving: A Milestone in Decentralized AI
As the cryptocurrency space continues to evolve, decentralized projects are introducing innovative mechanisms to manage their token supply. Bittensor, an open-source, decentralized machine learning network, is nearing its first halving event since its launch in 2021. This significant milestone is expected to occur on or around December 14th, when the issuance of its native token TAO (TAO) will decrease to 3,600 per day from the current 7,200.
According to Grayscale Research analyst William Ogden Moore, this event marks an “important milestone in the network’s maturation toward its supply cap of 21 million tokens,” equivalent to Bitcoin’s (BTC) hard limit. The TAO token follows a delivery schedule similar to Bitcoin, which is viewed as a potential catalyst for value by digital asset investors and network participants. 
Decentralized AI Infrastructure Demand
The growing demand for decentralized AI infrastructure is driving the expansion of Bittensor’s subnets. These subnets operate like startups, building specialized products or services, and are described by Grayscale as a kind of “Y-combiner for decentralized AI networks.” Currently, there are over 100 Bittensor subnets with a combined market cap of over $850 million, according to CoinGecko. Taostats, which tracks the ecosystem more broadly, shows 129 subnets with a total market cap of about $3 billion. 
The largest subnets include Chutes, which provides serverless computing power for AI models, and Ridges, a subnet focused on crowdsourcing the development of AI agents. The expansion of these subnets underscores the growing demand for decentralized AI infrastructure as developers compete to develop and scale new AI products and applications. As Chris Miglino of DNA Fund noted, decentralized AI could prove to be blockchain’s most significant use case since Bitcoin, largely driven by this demand.
Investment and Growth
Bittensor subnets are also attracting venture capital, with Inference Labs recently closing a $6.3 million round to support Subnet 2, a Bittensor marketplace for inference verification. Additionally, xTao, an infrastructure developer that creates tools and services for the Bittensor ecosystem, began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in July as a newly public company. These investments and developments demonstrate the growing interest and confidence in the Bittensor ecosystem and its potential for growth.
For more information on Bittensor’s halving and the decentralized AI space, visit Cointelegraph for the latest news and updates.
