Nodexo just announced version 2.0, and it’s a complete rethinking of how decentralized GPU computing should work. Instead of another “AI platform” with hosted models and mystery features, Nodexo 2.0 focuses on one thing: providing verifiable, bare-metal GPU computing power with cryptographic proof that the work actually happened.

The announcement, posted on December 17, 2025, introduces several revolutionary concepts: GPU providers stay completely off-chain, mining rewards get burned instead of distributed, proof of work gets published on Ethereum for public verification, and users can pay with any Bittensor subnet token.

Here’s what this means and why it matters for decentralized computing.

What is Nodexo?

Nodexo is a decentralized GPU marketplace connected to Bittensor Subnet 27.

It lets people rent GPU power from anywhere: home rigs, small data centers, or large enterprises with unused GPUs. The goal is to offer an alternative to expensive cloud providers like AWS or Google.

The problem with most decentralized compute systems is trust. Anyone can say they have powerful GPUs. Anyone can claim they ran a job. Nodexo 2.0 is designed to remove that doubt.

What Changed With Nodexo 2.0

The biggest change with this update is the focus.

Nodexo’s docs describe Subnet 27 as a decentralized GPU marketplace on Bittensor where miners contribute GPU resources and validators measure performance and set weights that affect rewards. 

Nodexo 2.0 is not a model-hosting platform, so it does not tell you what models to run or how to run them. It keeps the “GPU marketplace” idea but narrows the product to one clear job: connect users to GPUs and verify the work.​

This “narrow scope” matters because a lot of AI platforms bundle everything (models, APIs, fine-tuning, and hosting), and then it becomes hard to audit what is happening.

With this change, it becomes much easier to prove the GPU work happened because the system only needs to provide verified compute.

GPU Providers Stay Off-Chain

A key change is that GPU providers can stay off-chain. Instead of learning Bittensor, managing keys, and registering as miners, a provider installs an agent, lists their hardware details, and starts taking jobs.

Before, GPU providers often had to understand Bittensor, manage wallets, and interact with on-chain systems. That stopped many people from joining.

With Nodexo 2.0, providers don’t touch the blockchain at all.

They install a small agent, register their hardware once, and start accepting jobs. From their point of view, it feels like a normal compute marketplace. Nodexo handles the hard parts in the background.

How Nodexo Proves the Work Was Real

Nodexo uses something called Proof-of-GPU v3. This involves the system running small test jobs on your GPU. These tests are designed so that only real GPUs can pass them, and they behave differently depending on the hardware.

If someone claims they have a powerful GPU but doesn’t, the system can tell. These checks run all the time, not just once.

Over time, this builds a clear record of which providers are honest and reliable.

Validators Don’t Pay Miners Anymore

In Nodexo 2.0, GPU providers no longer earn free rewards from the network. Any emissions that would have gone to miners are burned.

Providers only make money when real users pay for compute.

Because of this, Subnet 27 validators no longer decide payouts. Their only job is to judge trust based on proof, who is reliable and who is not.

This removes reward farming and forces everyone to focus on delivering real service.

Proof Is Published on Ethereum

Nodexo 2.0 also pushes for proof of GPU work to live on a public, shared data rail, rather than inside one company’s private database. The system collects proof records off-chain, batches them, then sends them through an Ethereum Layer 2 so anyone (validators, auditors, other protocols) can independently verify what happened.​

This means users don’t have to trust Nodexo. They can verify the proof themselves. If there’s a dispute, the evidence is public.

Paying With Any Alpha Token

Another major change is payment flexibility. Users will be able to pay for GPU time using any subnet alpha token, not just TAO. You don’t need to convert everything into one TAO first. Nodexo handles that internally and turns it into compute credits.

If it works, it turns alpha tokens into more than speculative assets. They become spending power for real compute, which is exactly what many people want from “decentralized AI” tokens.​

Why This Matters

Nodexo 2.0 is aiming for three things at once. Easy onboarding for GPU providers, strong proof that work is real, and a market driven by real demand instead of subsidy farming. That combination is what makes decentralized compute hard—and why this upgrade, if fully implemented, would be a meaningful shift for SN27 and for Bittensor’s compute story.​If a version of this ships end-to-end, SN27 stops being “a subnet that pays miners” and becomes “a trust oracle for compute” that other apps and subnets can safely build on top of.