The deep integration of the TAO native token and the Bittensor system.

Kabir903

The TAO native token of Bittensor is a useless meme coin farce, gaining value solely due to the narrative surrounding crypto and AI, with its true value being zero. While we hope the memetic value of Bittensor matches that of dogwifhat, we must recognize that the utility of the TAO token far surpasses that of meme coins.

In summary, TAO is distributed by the protocol to three main stakeholders—miners, subnet owners, and validators:
- Miners complete specific machine learning tasks, such as inference or fine-tuning, or provide infrastructure for file storage or computation.
- Subnet owners design reward models to foster maximum value creation.
- Validators use reward models designed by subnet owners to determine the completion of tasks by miners.

Additionally, TAO gains value through four main mechanisms:
- Validators staking TAO can directly distribute tokens to their subnets or another subnet based on the amount staked.
- Subnet owners must lock TAO to register a subnet.
- Miners and validators must burn TAO to register on a subnet.
- Validators must stake TAO to access miners and sell the products and services they produce.

Individual subnets rely on the native tokens distributed to contributors to guide supply and future network value, akin to most decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs). For example, file storage networks like Filecoin, Arweave, or Subnet 21-FileTAO require payment to miners for storing and retrieving information to demonstrate value within the network.

Importantly, TAO tokens also play a unique role in the Bittensor network by distributing tokens to subnets. In the current network, validators' task is to determine which subnets are worthy of TAO distribution. The network implements a delegated staking system to select validators, with delegators staking their TAO to validators who represent their votes. While relying on validators to make decisions that align with the network's best interests, the distribution of tokens itself carries potential value. If top validators no longer believe in the network's future, engaging in nepotism or self-trading could allow them to profit from their role advantage.

Kalkin995

This is also worth looking into.