My tech knowledge limits me in understanding why AI would need a blockchain too. But his campaign is more about the importance of the decentralisation of ownership of AI.
Here’s his latest - first part re his feeling that Bitcoin miners are pointless 😬. I’ve him we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one!
Second part explaining why Bittensor solves AI decentralisation with native incentive token/governance. My brain stops absorbing at “token” unfortunately as I don’t see how any token drives genuine adoption of the technology mission, rather than people playing fiat greed games with said token which they’ll inevitably trade out of, meaning they also then opt out of their ability to participate in the technology and network 🤷🏼♀️🤪
“I’m not sure you are really understanding my point about the BTC miners, I know how it works and why, it doesn’t change the fact that the cryptographers are spending energy on a task, the task itself having no value, solving a mathematical equation doesn’t create a real world value, other than unlocking the Bitcoin. It’s a lot of power going in that could be useful, I.e instead of solving a random equation, they could be solving a real world problem, which is how the Bittensor network is set up.
In regards to your second point, why is it not built on bitcoin these are the reasons:
. Incentive Structures & Native Utility
• TAO is not just a currency; it governs the entire Bittensor ecosystem. It’s used for staking, securing the network, incentivizing miners (validators), and coordinating AI-related tasks.
• The Lightning Network is primarily designed for fast, low-cost transactions, but it doesn’t provide built-in governance, staking, or direct on-chain coordination for AI workloads.
2. Smart Contract Functionality
• Bitcoin and the Lightning Network don’t have native support for the kind of complex smart contract interactions that TAO enables.
• Bittensor uses Substrate, allowing for deep customization in consensus mechanisms and network behavior, which isn’t possible on Bitcoin’s scripting language.
3. Scalability & Flexibility for AI
• AI models require a specialized network with a dynamic incentive structure. TAO allows for programmable economic incentives that adapt to AI performance.
• The Lightning Network is optimized for simple payments and doesn’t provide the infrastructure to support a decentralized AI marketplace.
4. Security & Network Independence
• Relying on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network would make Bittensor dependent on Bitcoin’s development roadmap, governance decisions, and scalability constraints.
• Having its own token and blockchain ensures Bittensor can evolve independently without being bottlenecked by Bitcoin’s priorities.
5. Liquidity & Economic Design
• TAO serves as a store of value within the AI economy, distinct from Bitcoin’s role as digital gold.
• Using Bitcoin (BTC) directly would introduce volatility and external liquidity risks that could disrupt the AI incentive structure.
TAO is designed to serve a specific economic and technical function that Bitcoin and Lightning aren’t built to provide.”
