Bittensor (TAO) Tokenomics

The TAO token is the native utility token of Bittensor, a decentralized AI network built on the Subtensor blockchain (a Layer-1 network developed using Polkadot’s Substrate SDK). The token economics are designed to incentivize the production and validation of machine intelligence and other digital commodities across various specialized markets known as subnets.

Issuance Mechanism

The TAO token supply is capped at 21 million tokens, mirroring the supply limit of Bitcoin. The issuance mechanism is characterized by a predictable, decreasing rate governed by a halving cycle.

• Current Emission Rate: As of December 16, 2024, one TAO token is issued every block (approximately every 12 seconds). This results in a daily issuance of 7,200 TAO tokens.
• Halving Cycle: The issuance rate is halved once 50% of the total supply has been issued. After the first halving, the cycle resets, and subsequent halvings occur whenever 50% of the remaining supply to be mined has been issued. This process continues until the maximum supply of 21 million TAO is in circulation, at which point issuance halts completely.
• Halving Projection: The first halving is projected to occur in September 2025, based on token recycle data. At this point, the daily issuance will decrease to 3,600 TAO per day.
• Fair Launch: Bittensor was launched without any pre-mined tokens or Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), ensuring that each TAO token reflects real machine learning work contributed to the network.

Allocation Mechanism

TAO emissions are distributed across the network's participants—Subnet Owners, Miners, and Validators—through a two-tiered system involving the Root Network (SN 0) and the individual subnets.

1. Root Network (SN 0) Allocation

The Root Network (SN 0) is the meta subnet responsible for determining the proportion of total network emissions distributed to each individual subnet (SN 1 to SN 32, currently).

• Decision Makers: The top 64 validators with the largest stake across all subnets are responsible for voting on how the network’s total emissions should be distributed among the various subnets.
• Voting Process: Validators manually assign a percentage of the total emission pool to each chosen subnet, with the total allocation summing up to 100%. The final consensus percentages are determined through the Yuma Consensus (YC) mechanism, which is stake-weighted.

2. Subnet Distribution

Once emissions are allocated to a specific subnet, the tokens are distributed among the subnet participants according to the following fixed percentages:

3. Validator and Delegator Rewards

The 41% allocated to Subnet Validators is further distributed between the validators and the delegators who stake their TAO with them:

• Delegators: Receive 82% of the validator's share.
• Validators: Retain 18% of the validator's share as a commission (take rate). Validators can set their commission rate between 0.00% and 18.00%.

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

TAO functions as a utility token that drives the network's core activities and incentivizes participants to contribute valuable resources.

Core Utility and Incentives

• Access to Intelligence: Validators must stake TAO to access the network’s intelligence and develop revenue-generating applications and APIs. Validators with larger stakes receive priority from miners in having their requests serviced.
• Incentivizing Production: Miners are rewarded in TAO for performing computing tasks and contributing machine intelligence, storage, or compute power as defined by a subnet's protocol.
• Validation and Consensus: Validators are rewarded for querying and evaluating the tasks performed by miners. They use the Yuma Consensus (YC) mechanism to rank miners based on performance (on a scale of 0-1). The higher a miner's ranking, the greater their reward. YC is a stake-weighted consensus system that also includes a Vtrust score to reward validators whose weight assignments align with the network's consensus, discouraging manipulation.
• Subnet Creation Fee: Users must pay a minimum fee of 100 TAO to create a new subnet, though this cost can increase based on network demand.

Token Recycling (Soft Burning)

Bittensor features a mechanism where TAO fees are "recycled" to the "recycle bin," effectively removing them from the circulating supply and returning them to the unissued supply to be used again in new emissions. This recycling mechanism postpones the halving date.

• Transaction Fees: A fee of 145 RAO (0.000000145 TAO) is recycled for each transaction.
• Registration Fees: Subnet validators and miners must pay a variable registration fee to join, which is also recycled.

Locking Mechanism and Unlocking Time

The primary locking mechanism in Bittensor is staking and delegation, which is required for validators to participate in the network and for delegators to earn rewards.

• Staking/Delegation: TAO holders can delegate their tokens to subnet validators. As of December 16, 2024, approximately 5.97 million TAO (about 80.95% of the total token supply) is staked across all validators.
• Validator Stake: Validators must stake TAO to perform work and earn rewards. The rewards they receive are proportional to the amount of TAO they self-stake relative to their overall stake.
• Locking/Unlocking Time: While the data confirms that TAO is staked and delegated, specific details regarding the mandatory locking period (e.g., unbonding time) or unlocking time for staked or delegated TAO were not explicitly provided. The mechanism is similar to a work token model where staking is required to perform work.