Bittensor Proposal to Restructure Reward Mechanism: Validators May Transform into "Fund Managers"

Odaily A new governance proposal called "Root Reborn" for the decentralized AI network Bittensor is drawing attention. Submitted by developer "unconst," the proposal is currently in the code review stage and has not yet been implemented on the mainnet.

According to reports, the plan aims to restructure the TAO staking reward distribution mechanism, transforming validators from passive reward distribution nodes into capital allocators similar to "fund managers." Under the current mechanism, the system sells rewards owed to root-level stakers and automatically exchanges subnet tokens for TAO to pay out yields. This process is believed to create continuous selling pressure on various subnet token prices. The "Root Reborn" proposal suggests that validators could autonomously choose which subnets to support and reinvest the rewards that would otherwise be sold into these subnet assets, forming a compoundable asset portfolio. Stakers would still receive rewards and could exit at any time in TAO.

The design of the proposal aims to convert persistent selling pressure into structural buying power, while also giving validators a more proactive screening role in capital allocation, thereby strengthening high-quality subnets and weakening low-quality projects.

However, the proposal is still in the GitHub review phase. Early automated reviews have identified risks including large-scale data processing bottlenecks and potential impacts on staker settlements when subnets are shut down. The developer has stated that related issues have been fixed and that optimization will continue before mainnet deployment.

According to market data, TAO has fallen approximately 28% over the past 12 months, while Bitcoin has dropped about 38% during the same period. The current annualized staking yield is approximately 17%. (CoinDesk)