For months, Bittensor has been quietly building some of the most impressive AI infrastructure in crypto. Subnets like Ridges are outperforming Anthropic’s products at a fraction of the cost. Synth turned $3,000 into over $50,000 in just three weeks by predicting Bitcoin price movements on Polymarket. Score is turning cameras into intelligent devices for real sports organizations.
But here’s the problem. Almost nobody outside the Bittensor ecosystem knows this is happening.
The market caps for these subnets remain criminally low compared to their real world counterparts. And there’s a simple reason why. Accessing subnet ‘$ALPHA’ tokens requires staking $TAO natively using a TAO wallet on Bittensor. For most crypto users who live in the Ethereum or Solana ecosystems, that’s too many steps. Too much friction, too unfamiliar.
General TAO Ventures decided to fix that with Project Rubicon; a project that brings Bittensor subnets directly to Base, where the liquidity already lives.
With Mark Jeffrey as the host, Mike Grantis and Victor Teixeira walked through how Project Rubicon works (check video below), why it matters, and what it unlocks for the future of decentralized AI on Hash Rate Podcast.
The “Island” Analogy
Mike framed the challenge clearly. Most people who’ve ever touched crypto have only dealt with Bitcoin or stablecoins. A smaller subset has played with Ethereum or Solana and an even smaller group has touched Layer-2 (L2) or other assets.
And then there’s Bittensor, sitting on its own island.
Previous attempts to bridge Bittensor into the broader Web3 world tried to bring liquidity from the mainland to the island (Bittensor). Mike described it as “sending ships from the mainland to Bittensor”.
But that’s a difficult ask. It requires users to download new wallets, understand a completely different architecture, and figure out what subnets even are before they can invest.
Project Rubicon flips this approach. Instead of asking users to “come to the island”, they’re putting the subnets on boats and bringing them to the mainland where the liquidity already exists.
The first stop? Base, the Ethereum-L2 developed by Coinbase.
How Rubicon Actually Works
Victor explained the technical setup in simple terms. Project Rubicon uses Chainlink’s CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) to bridge subnet tokens from Bittensor to Base.
CCIP is industry-standard and trusted by institutions like JPMorgan, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Visa, and MasterCard. It’s never been hacked.
Normally, CCIP charges a six-figure chain integration fee. But Chainlink waived that fee to work with Bittensor, signaling their belief in the ecosystem.
Once the bridge is live, users can buy subnet tokens on Base using $USDC. No need to download a TAO wallet, no need to learn a new system. Just connect your MetaMask wallet, head to Aerodrome, and buy the $ALPHA you want.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Most wrapped tokens ignore yield. $ALPHA generate significant yield, sometimes as high as 80% to 100% APY. If you wrap a token and lose that yield, you’re effectively losing a huge chunk of value.
Project Rubicon solved this.
It built a liquid staking token that wraps the yield directly into the ERC-20 token sitting in the user’s wallet. When $xALPHA is minted against the user’s $ALPHA, that token continuously accrues yield as the Bittensor roots emit into it.
If users start with 1,000 $ALPHA and the yield grows to 1,100 $ALPHA, the exchange rate for that $xALPHA adjusts to reflect the new value. When it’s redeemed, users get 1,100 $ALPHA back.
Victor put it simply, “You’re not just holding a wrapped token. You’re holding a wrapped token that earns yield on top of the yield you’re already getting from the subnet.”
The Liquidity Challenge
Building a bridge is one thing. Making sure people can actually trade once they cross it is another.
In decentralized exchanges, you need two things. The token you’re buying and the token you’re trading against it, usually $USDC. Both need to exist in a liquidity pool, and there needs to be enough of both to prevent massive slippage.
Other bridge attempts spread liquidity across multiple chains. The result is tiny pools with maybe $1,000 here and there. Users can’t buy $5,000 worth of a token without paying absurd fees or getting wrecked on slippage.
Project Rubicon took a different approach. They partnered directly with 16 of the top 20 subnet teams to provide the initial liquidity. Subnet owners hold massive amounts of their own tokens that aren’t being used. They can’t sell them without tanking the price. So why not deploy those tokens into liquidity pools (LP) and earn LP fees on top of the yield they’re already getting?
Victor confirmed that if you want to buy $5,000 worth of a subnet token today, you can. The liquidity is there.
And it’s not just subnet owners who can provide liquidity. Anyone holding large positions in $ALPHA can add liquidity to the pools and start earning fees.
Why Base?
Mike explained the beachhead strategy. When users are trying to open up liquidity across multiple chains at once, they fragment everything. Low liquidity pools everywhere, nobody can trade effectively.
So the team picked one chain to start. Base made sense for several reasons. It’s developed by Coinbase, so there’s institutional trust and security built in. The liquidity is already there. And more importantly, it’s where retail users already are, especially those who use Coinbase as their primary on-ramp and off-ramp for fiat.
Once the liquidity is properly established on Base, the team would expand the project to other chains using CCIP. But for now, the focus is building a single strong beachhead.
The Defi Unlock
Mike and Victor both emphasized that Project Rubicon isn’t just about making it easier to buy subnet tokens. It is about laying the foundation for an entire DeFi ecosystem around Bittensor.
Right now, Bittensor doesn’t have lending protocols. It doesn’t have perp decks, not even an options market. Those things can’t exist without liquid, tradable tokens on chains where DeFi infrastructure already exists.
By bringing subnet tokens to Base as ERC-20 tokens, Project Rubicon opens the door for developers to build all of those things. Developers and builders can now build lending protocols where users deposit their $ALPHA and borrow against them. They can now build derivatives, even perp decks.
Victor pointed out that Bittensor subnet owners often struggle to access capital. The ecosystem has an anti-VC ethos, so fundraising isn’t always easy. And with dynamic $TAO and $ALPHA flow mechanisms in place, selling down tokens punishes users on the backend.
The solution? Deposit $ALPHA and borrow against them. But for that to work, trading volume is needed to liquidate assets when users fall below the collateralization ratio. That’s exactly what Project Rubicon enables.
Mike added that there’s been a decade of innovation and hundreds of millions of dollars spent building infrastructure in the EVM world. Bittensor built something better, but it’s still a small city.
Why rebuild everything from scratch when you can just cross the bridge and use the roads, shops, and systems that already exist?
What’s Next
Project Rubicon launched with 16 of the top subnet teams. The total value locked (TVL) on Rubicon side is around 1,500 $TAO, roughly $500,000. That’s just the beginning.
The team is already planning to roll out more subnets in phases. The goal is to eventually have all 128 Bittensor subnets available on Base. But a measured approach is being taken, making sure each phase is done right before moving to the next.
Mike and Victor also hinted at upcoming marketing efforts. They have X (Formerly Twitter) Spaces planned with Chainlink and Base, along with outreach to Web3 influencers and VCs who’ve shown interest in the project.
And beyond just bridging tokens, the team is looking forward to building additional products on top of the infrastructure. The first major one would be a lending protocol where users can deposit $ALPHA and borrow against them, unlocking capital without having to sell.
Victor compared the journey to “Caesar crossing the Rubicon”. First, you cross the river with your army, make your way to Rome, then chase Pompey across the seas.
Each step builds on the last, transforming the ecosystem from a republic into an empire.
Why This Matters
Bittensor has been operating in relative isolation. The subnets are doing incredible work, but the market hasn’t caught up yet. Ridges is competing with Anthropic’s products at a fraction of the cost. Synth is making Nostradamus level predictions. Score is turning cameras into intelligent devices. Bitmind is the world’s best deepfake detector.
Yet, their tokens can’t be found on Dex Screener, they can’t even be bought with a Coinbase wallet. And if this yield mechanics is explained to a normal crypto user, their eyes glaze over.
Project Rubicon changes that. It brings Bittensor subnets to where the liquidity lives, makes them tradable with familiar wallets and interfaces, and preserves the yield that makes them valuable in the first place.
As Mike put it, “no ecosystem can succeed without DeFi”. Traders are needed, liquidity makers are, and, even where people can take positions and build products.
Project Rubicon gives the Bittensor ecosystem that foundation. And now, the real building can begin.
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