Latest developments in the Bittensor ecosystem: TAO leads the innovation frontiers of decentralized AI blockchains.

TL;DR

The Bittensor ecosystem demonstrated strong expansion between November and December 2025, with 129 active subnets and a key Tao Flow upgrade to optimize emissions. The first TAO halving is expected to trigger in mid-December, reducing daily emissions from 7,200 to 3,600. This, coupled with institutional capital inflows (Grayscale private placement trust, $750,000 investment from TAO Synergies) and breakthroughs in cross-chain liquidity (Project Rubicon integrating Chainlink CCIP), creates a synergistic pattern of supply contraction and demand growth. On-chain data shows that 72% of the circulating supply is staked (approximately $6.9 billion TVL), and over 200,000 active accounts support a daily trading volume of $165 million, validating TAO's market position as a leader in decentralized AI infrastructure.

Core Analysis

Agreement upgrades and emission mechanism innovation

The Tao Flow emission model was deployed on the Subtensor mainnet around November 10, 2025, marking Bittensor's shift from liquidity-based emissions to a weighted allocation based on staking liquidity . The new mechanism uses a 30-day EMA (Exponential Moving Average) to calculate net staking inflows into subnets, with negatively liquid subnets receiving zero emissions, aiming to mitigate the bias advantage of large liquidity pools. The upgrade was implemented gradually over 30 days starting in November, coinciding with the root chain update on November 5th, which adjusted the emission frequency from every 360 blocks to daily randomization, and introduced an alpha token direct claim option to retain subnet-specific rewards.

The halving milestone is approaching : the first TAO halving is expected to trigger around December 14, 2025 (when the cumulative emissions reach 10.5 million TAO), reducing the block reward from 1 TAO to 0.5 TAO every 12 seconds. The daily emissions before the halving are 7,200 TAO (41% from miners, 41% from validators/stakers, and 18% from subnet owners). The total emissions from November 5th to December 5th are expected to be approximately 216,000 TAO (based on 7,200 TAO per day for 30 days). After the halving, combined with the Tao Flow model, emissions will further skew towards higher-staked subnets, theoretically strengthening token scarcity.

Ecological cooperation and capital inflow

Institutional attention has surged : TAO Synergies invested $750,000 in Yuma Asset Management's subnet fund in late November, allocated to the Composite and Large Cap strategies; DSV Fund invested $100,000 each in the Resi (SN46) and Leadpoet (SN71) alpha tokens; and Stillcore Capital invested in the Hippius subnet (SN75) at the end of November. These moves reflect the deep involvement of traditional capital in the Bittensor subnet economy.

Subnet Innovation and AI Application Breakthroughs

New Subnet Launch and Product Iteration :

• Ridges (SN62) will launch Beta v1 on November 6, 2025, with a controlled release strategy limited to the first 100 users. It integrates real-world product data for incentive design and is primarily open to software engineers.
• METANOVA (SN68) launched NOVA_Blueprint in early November, providing a plug-and-play model-dataset screening engine, coupled with a 24-hour hackathon to reward innovative code submissions, focusing on the field of combinatorial drug discovery, with an efficiency improvement of 418% compared to the benchmark.
• Vericore (SN70) was launched by the dFusion AI team in March 2025 (not during November-December). It focuses on semantic fact-checking, providing support/refutation of two-way outputs and source attribution, and is incubated by Yuma (a subsidiary of DCG).

Cross-chain liquidity unlocking : Project Rubicon, launched at the end of November 2025, bridges Bittensor subnet alpha tokens to the Base chain via Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol), enabling non-custodial liquidity and DeFi integration, initially supporting 17 subnets. This breaks down the liquidity silos of subnet tokens, injecting cross-chain application scenarios into the TAO ecosystem.

Real-world use case extension :

• Bitcast (SN93) launched a performance-based creator marketing platform in early November, linking brand payments to verifiable interactions audited by decentralized validators.
• In mid-November, Webuildscore (SN44) partnered with Reading FC Football Club to integrate computer vision AI for tactical analysis and player recruitment.
• The Human Genome Subnet went live on November 10, enabling decentralized genomic data processing.

On-chain analysis

Core on-chain metrics

Emissions and Supply Dynamics : From November 5th to December 5th, during the pre-halving phase, an average of 7,200 TAO will be emitted daily, with a projected total emission of 216,000 TAO over 30 days (approximately 2.25% of the circulating supply). After the halving, daily emissions will drop to 3,600 TAO, and the annualized inflation rate will decrease from approximately 27% (based on 9.6 million circulating TAO) to approximately 13.7%. Combined with the liquidity-oriented allocation of the Tao Flow model, this is expected to support the token price.

Subnet activity evolution : From 118 (June 2025) to 129 (early December), with an average net increase of approximately 2 subnets per month. Examples of new subnets added during this period include the Human Genome subnet on November 10th, and application-layer innovations such as Bitcast (SN93). Although specific DAU (Daily Active Users) time series were not disclosed, over 200,000 active accounts and continuous staking inflows (such as xTAO's 41.5% increase) indicate stable network participation.

Protocol Revenue and Value Accumulation : Traditional DeFi metrics show that protocol revenue was $0 (no transaction fees or holder dividends), but value accumulated through emission rewards : 216,000 TAO tokens were emitted during the period, with a value of approximately $75.6 million (at an average price of $350), including the subnet quality control fee burn mechanism. Project Rubicon's liquidity staking integration and Chainlink CCIP expansion potentially opened up fee revenue channels, but specific data was not disclosed during the period.

Strengthening of technical infrastructure

• Yuma consensus mechanism : A performance-based reward system will be implemented in conjunction with the dynamic TAO system starting in February 2025, and subnet alpha tokens can be traded with TAO.
• Liquidity staking progress : Project Rubicon integrates Chainlink CCIP, and pledges TAO ETP for listing on the Swiss SIX exchange, providing institutional investors with a traditional financial access point.
• On-chain interaction mode : On-chain transfers, delegations, and extrinsics (external calls) are active, but accurate transaction counts were not obtained during this period; based on 200,000 active accounts, it is inferred that there are thousands of on-chain transactions (staking, venting, and exchanging) per day.

Social sentiment analysis

Community Narrative and Market Expectations

The narrative of a supply shock driven by the halving dominates: the community widely discusses the first halving as a milestone in network maturity, anticipating a sharp drop in supply growth coupled with demand from ETPs and whale, which will trigger a supply-demand imbalance. Grayscale, in its trust announcement on December 3rd, emphasized that the halving is synchronized with the growth in demand for decentralized AI services, positioning it as a key factor in network evolution. The Reddit community is optimistic about the halving and the Q1 2026 roadmap, expecting institutional capital inflows to drive TAO's growth in the DeAI (decentralized AI) field, but some voices also warn of macroeconomic risks.

Developer interest has surged : Intense discussions have erupted surrounding subnet beta testing, hackathons, and integrations, with Bittensor being hailed as a "top predator" in AI infrastructure thanks to its permissionless incentive mechanism. Community observers flagged subnets like Chutes, Lium, and Ridges as undervalued high-opportunity areas in late November. Chainlink's expansion of its services to Bittensor (including CCIP and data streams) in late November is seen as key to enabling robust interoperability for developers.

Excitement over cross-chain liquidity unlocking : The launch of Project Rubicon has sparked discussions about subnet liquidity unlocking and cross-chain accessibility, positioned as a driver of ecosystem innovation. METANOVA's ongoing hackathons and Astrid Intelligence's (SN127) vision of raising $100 million by 2026 (including on-chain investment in Astrid Axis and the AI ​​capital allocation competition Astrid Arena), announced at the end of November, further enhance developer engagement.

Emotional keywords :

• Positive aspects : "Decentralized AI leader," "Open intelligent market," "Fair emissions," "Subnet competitive advantage"
• Neutral/Cautious : "Impact of governance on subnetwork stability", "Liquidity diversification risk", "Macroeconomic headwinds"

The Lium (SN51) and Chutes (SN64) alpha tokens were listed on the MEXC exchange in early November, improving accessibility to decentralized computing and inference networks, and the community acknowledged the improved liquidity in the secondary market.

in conclusion

Between November and December 2025, the Bittensor ecosystem underwent a comprehensive evolution, from protocol layer upgrades to application ecosystem expansion, strengthening TAO's leading position as a decentralized AI infrastructure token. The implementation of the Tao Flow emission mechanism and the upcoming first halving together constructed a more refined incentive model and anticipated supply contraction, while 129 active subnets, a 72% staking rate, and over 200,000 active accounts validated the network's health. Continued institutional capital inflows (Grayscale Trust, TAO Synergies investment, xTAO expansion) and breakthroughs in cross-chain liquidity (Project Rubicon integrating Chainlink CCIP) further broadened TAO's value capture boundaries. In practical applications, the innovative implementations of subnets such as Ridges and METANOVA in real-world AI evaluation, drug discovery, and genome processing validate Bittensor's technological feasibility as an open smart market. Despite potential challenges from liquidity dispersion and governance impacts, the ecosystem as a whole demonstrated strong developer participation and market demand growth, laying the foundation for further expansion in 2026.