Bittensor has passed a notable moment in its short history with the first halving of TAO emissions, triggered at block 7,103,976. Block rewards have dropped from 1 TAO to 0.5 TAO, bringing the network into a new phase that supporters see as both a technical milestone and a test of long-term assumptions around decentralised AI.
The halving comes alongside a period of visible activity across the ecosystem. Yuma has accelerated 16 subnets, launched Yuma Asset Management to give investors more direct access to subnet tokens, and helped onboard nine custodians, wallets, exchanges and institutional partners through its validator operations. Together, these moves point to a network that is trying to mature its infrastructure while emissions tighten.
For some long-time participants, the moment invites comparisons with Bitcoin’s early years, particularly its first halving in 2012. At that time, Bitcoin existed on the margins, with a small but committed community grappling with technical hurdles and unclear valuation models. The parallel often drawn is not about price paths, but about structure. Both systems rely on predetermined issuance, open participation and the idea that decentralisation can counterbalance concentrated control.
There are similarities in how difficult each system can be to approach. Early Bitcoin required hands-on technical knowledge, and Bittensor still demands familiarity with both crypto tooling and AI infrastructure. While browser wallets and new funds have lowered some barriers, deeper interaction with subnets and Tao often still runs through command-line tools. That complexity continues to limit participation to a relatively small group, at least for now.
Community dynamics also echo earlier crypto cycles. Bittensor remains a space where builders, researchers and operators can still engage directly with one another, and where conviction about the project’s direction tends to outweigh short-term speculation. Supporters argue that this phase, heavy on signal and light on noise, rarely lasts forever once wider attention arrives.
Valuation, however, remains an open question. As with Bitcoin in its early days, there is no settled framework for pricing a network that incentivises productive AI outputs through a native token and subnet economy. Debates continue around the relationship between TAO and subnet tokens, and what sustainability looks like at the subnet level. For now, experimentation is doing the work that models cannot.
The differences from Bitcoin’s early era are just as clear. Crypto infrastructure is now well established, making it easier for capital and users to move quickly when interest rises. At the same time, that maturity means competition for attention is far greater. Distributed AI must compete with a crowded crypto landscape in a way Bitcoin never had to.
Risk tolerance has shifted as well. Institutional involvement and regulatory awareness shape behaviour across the sector, leaving less room for the kind of unchecked experimentation that defined Bitcoin’s earliest chapters. The range of people involved has also broadened, with Bittensor attracting scientists, traders, security specialists and creatives alongside traditional crypto developers.
As 2025 draws on, the first TAO halving does not offer neat answers about where Bittensor is headed. What it does provide is a reference point. Emissions are lower, infrastructure is expanding, and the network is beginning to confront questions that go beyond growth and into durability. Whether the comparisons with Bitcoin prove useful or misleading will only become clear with time, but for now, Bittensor has entered a new phase with its core assumptions firmly in the spotlight.
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