Chaos, correction, and Jensen
Well: it’s been a weird week.
First $TAO rallied towards $300, ranking as the number-one performing digital asset twice in three days.
Then came the (inevitable) correction, the (mini) hack, which led to the chain being rolled back, and the usual soul-searching.
That said, it feels like broader adoption is here to stay. Templar’s 72B model, DCG’s ongoing development of Yuma and Grayscale, and the wider crypto pivot towards AI are working in our favour, despite the shakiness of the market and the uncertainty of the global economy.
And, just when you think it’s back to square one, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang pops up with an endorsement of decentralized AI on Bittensor.
In the words of Jacob Steeves: Cool. Very cool.
Chris Zacharia, Editor
Deep dive
Andy TT consistently puts out some of the sharpest thinking in the Bittensor ecosystem. His deep dive takes Chamath's viral macro essay - which argues that AI destroys terminal value and collapses the entire growth investing model - and identifies the one asset class that thrives in exactly that world. Essential reading.
Highlights
This week in TAO
Was it just me, or was Jensen Huang everywhere last night? Following the NVIDIA CEO’s approving comments on Jason Calacanis’s @theallinpod about SN3’s decentralized pretraining run, Bittensor twitter (and a big chunk of crypto twitter besides) was wall-to-wall Jensen. Never mind that @chamath mistakenly referred to Covenant 72B as a 4B - which was such an unexpectedly basic error that I almost cried with laughter - this is the moment the whole protocol dreamt of, and @DistStateAndMe worked incredibly hard for.
One of the best Bittensor product launches - or the best? Congratulations to Gavin and Pranav of Leadpoet for a clear, concise, and direct product pitch earlier this week. Most Bittensor subnets struggle to translate tech into user traction, but Leadpoet’s video shows it can be done. Racking up over 600k views is one thing, but 600+ comments is another - which, unless anyone out there can prove otherwise, makes this the most commented Bittensor tweet ever.
Talk about turning a weakness into a strength. Hermes, who tumbled perilously close to dereg last week, announced that their SubQuery token is no more. Respect to SN82 for publishing such an honest, authentic, and direct explanation. And given the response (22k impressions and 150+ likes on the first post alone), it seems that people responded to it.
SN4 is the latest entrant into the chipmaker’s AI incubator, following SN78 Loosh, SN46 RESI, SN73 Leadpoet, and more. And given Jensen’s surging popularity within Bittensor, following his remarks about Templar, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more subnets announced their own NVIDIA admission in future. But for me, the real milestone comes when a team can point to tangible results.
Another premier exchange listing for $TAO, thanks to Safello’s ongoing efforts to conquer Europe’s bourses, one by one. This is the same ETP listed on SIX Swiss Exchange, but now trading in Swedish kronor. Backed by staked TAO, the ETP provides investors with regulated exposure to Bittensor. In the press release, Safello co-founder Frank Schuil called Bittensor ‘the most exciting blockchain protocol since Bitcoin.’ Of course he did: Frank is endlessly bullish. Great to have him winning us institutional exposure.
In the media
Jack Leung - Supercycle host, Pylon Partners co-founder, and all-round crypto chad - hosted one of the most bullish episodes on Bittensor, and that’s saying something.
Mark Jeffrey is deservedly well-known as a TAO evangelist, but in my opinion Rob Greer is just as powerful. Rob’s that rare combination of compelling, convincing, and considerate - combining investor-grade analysis with TAO maxi conviction. His encouragement led me to push forward with bitstarter.ai back when it was just an idea in my head, and he’s continued to support us with introductions to new teams (including SN24 Quasar).
Tweet of the week
Plug it into my veins, set it to maximum, and throw away the key: Rob Greer stacking alpha upon alpha and taking the best-case scenario to dizzying heights…
‘We’re getting close to witnessing what could be the most violent tokenomic flywheel in the history of crypto $TAO
an ETH ICO demand shock intersecting with a BTC halving supply shock
during a hard takeoff with AI and the event horizon of singularity within view.’
Chart of the Week
Everyone agrees that subnets need social media exposure, but hardly anyone has published any evidence. This is my attempt, six months into bitstarter.ai, to measure social presence against dev activity. If anyone knows of any similar comparative analytics, please send them my way.
Look out for...
bitstarter.ai’s latest subnet launch, Friday (today) @ 13.00 ET
Bittensor 101 hits San Francisco’s Frontier Tower, organised by yours truly
HackQuest’s Subnet Ideathon reaches its final round
until next time…
"Give me a lever long enough and I shall move the world."
-Archimedes
Bringing TAO to the world.