By: Tao Ouτsider
Lads, this AMA ran long. I want you to have access to Punisher’s full story, someone who’s been in Bittensor since the beginning, in it for the cause. So I asked the Tao Daily crew to help out.
Do you still remember how this works? Or it’s your first OUT-IN? First, we do an intro for our guest, then we go into three questions that emerge based on the answers.
Enjoy.
Punisher: About Me
I’m 51 years old, I don’t have any degrees, and I discovered crypto in early 2022, and a few months later, Bittensor. I have no technical background at all. I’m from a generation that grew up without the internet, in a completely different world. And yet, Bittensor was a revelation for me, in several ways.
When I started looking for investment opportunities, I was searching for projects that could change the world. AI is clearly the next industrial revolution, and that’s why I became interested in Bittensor very early, even making my first OTC purchases, a stressful adventure in the crypto jungle at the time.
Then Badenglishtea and Toddsteez created Moonshoot TAO, the first-ever Discord community for Bittensor. I was among the first ten people to join, thanks to my constant posts about the project. The team even offered me X Premium.
We were like aliens promoting a project nobody knew, and few believed would succeed. I must have had twenty followers back then.
I don’t speak English, which is a handicap, but when you want something, you find a way. I spent thousands of hours translating content just to stay up-to-date with the evolution of the network.
I needed a mental notebook, and that’s how Magellan, my mental map of the entire Bittensor ecosystem, was born.
I later shared it publicly, and today I know it helps many people discover and understand Bittensor.
I’m what people call a “zebra”: ADHD, high potential, with a brain that thinks in branches and trees. Magellan fits perfectly with the way my mind works.
Punisher: My Background, A Different Life Before Bittensor
I started manual labor at 16, working in my family’s construction finishing company.
At 20, I became the manager.
At 24, my father left me with $60,000 in debt, my first major life challenge.
After three years of hard work, I had paid everything off and was running a healthy company employing around a dozen people.
Then, at 30, I walked away from it all to pursue a dream: becoming a Green Beret.
I was older than the young recruits, but I finished first in my selection and became a sniper in an infantry regiment, until the birth of my daughter.
After that, I joined Civil Protection, where I worked operationally for about ten years, facing disasters, death, and human suffering up close.
Meanwhile, since my twenties, I renovated and built several houses entirely on my own. I was hyperactive and unstoppable, until 39, when a heart issue and accumulated injuries forced me to slow down.
Then at 46, life hit me again with a divorce that cost me half of my assets. I went through difficult months, but I’m resilient, and I bounced back.
Today, due to new health issues, I’ve been away from work for several months and I’m fully focused on Bittensor.
Punisher: Why I’m in Bittensor
I’ve accumulated years of life experience, and I understand how society works: it’s unfair, unequal, and our model is destroying our own ecosystem in the name of the cancer that is money.
I’m in Bittensor to contribute in my own small way to building a fairer society, for my children and for the future.
Of course, there is a speculative aspect. But my goal has never been to buy a car, a watch, or other superficial things.
All I want is to buy free time and enjoy the rest of my life far from stress.
Bittensor is also a human adventure. I’ve met brilliant, open-minded people.
I’m not made for conversations with the masses, society has become superficial, lacking depth of soul.
But in this ecosystem, there are no colors, no borders, no religions, only men and women working for the collective. And I love that.
The day the masses understand the power they hold, the game played by the 5% of “sub-humans” who control the world will be over.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll live to see that day, because the world is not doing well.
Maybe AI will help us evolve, help us elevate consciousness.
Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I want to believe in it.
I know my profile is unusual, and I’m sharing all of this with full transparency.
I’m no longer afraid of being the old crazy guy who’s different, lol.
Everything I’ve done for Bittensor since 2022 has relied solely on donations, which won’t make me rich, but that’s not my goal.
Outsider – Question 1
A lot of people compare you to a private investigator or detective. Me included. You are good on it. I heard you have some military background, so this may not be entirely far from the truth. Can you share how your life experience has translated into being one of the most interesting authors and reporters in the community?
Punisher’s Answer
I understand why some people compare me to an investigator or a private detective, even though I’ve never really seen myself that way.
Yes, I do have a military background, but it came after a first life as a business manager.
What connects all these stages is probably something fundamental: curiosity. It’s innate for me. When a subject truly captures my interest, I become completely hyper-focused.
In the military, I was quickly trained as a sniper. It’s a role that demands extreme observation skills, constant self-control, and a deep awareness of one’s environment. The smallest detail can become a clue. You learn to analyze, to connect scattered pieces of information, and to make clear decisions under pressure.
But the military didn’t just teach me how to observe. It taught me self-transcendence. You quickly learn that most limits are the ones we impose on ourselves. Courage allows you to push beyond them, to surpass yourself again and again. It is also a world of discipline, rigor, and method, where nothing is left to chance.
Above all, it is a world where the collective matters more than the individual. Even in highly specialized roles, it is always the group that makes the difference. That mindset deeply shaped me. It resonates strongly with Bittensor: a network where value emerges from the sum of individual capabilities placed in service of a common goal. A collective logic that is sorely missing in our societies today.
Later, when I joined the emergency services, I found that same level of demand. You need a clear, fast mind to operate in complex, sometimes dangerous situations, always focusing on what truly matters: helping people. Those years strengthened my ability to cut through noise and act with precision.
All these life experiences gradually shaped my methods of analysis and research. Today, it’s almost reflexive: the slightest signal triggers a process. My mind records, sorts, lets things mature, and eventually connects the dots.
I also had to overcome several obstacles before expressing myself freely within the network.
I don’t speak English, which required countless hours of translation, and ironically, AI became my greatest ally. I also come from a generation that grew up without the internet, without any digital training, which can be intimidating at first.
But my conviction in Bittensor, since 2022, at a time when very few people were talking about it, was stronger than fear. Back then, we were a handful of “extraterrestrials,” often ignored and barely followed. Many gave up. Giving up has never been part of my DNA.
Day after day, I grew alongside the network. With no formal training in writing, I started with simple posts, using modern tools as true assistants capable of structuring raw ideas.
Confidence followed, reinforced by feedback, gratitude, and the feeling of being useful.
That’s how articles were born. They helped more people discover Bittensor. And ultimately, this was exactly our original mission when we joined Moonshot TAO in 2022: to evangelize the network.
At 51, discovering that I have ADHD also helped me better understand myself. When I’m immersed in Bittensor, time disappears. The outside world fades away. My brain works in branching structures, a strength, but also a source of fatigue. Sleep apnea doesn’t help, so ideas come at any hour, day or night.
I’ve been away from my regular job since May due to health issues, and I’ve chosen to see this period as an opportunity to devote even more time to Bittensor. Ultimately, my hope is to be able to live thanks to this ecosystem.
I’ve received opportunities, including being contacted by Barry Silbert about a role at Yuma. I answered honestly: no diplomas, only French, and the belief that three years in crypto doesn’t make you an expert. This space requires far more time, humility, and depth.
So if my life path has made me an interesting author or observer, it’s probably because of a sense of mission, deep curiosity, genuine pleasure in sharing, and the human connections — even virtual ones — that give meaning to it all.
I’m a homebody, an old bear. I don’t like noise, crowds, or superficiality.
I’m happiest at home, in front of my computer, searching, connecting, writing, sharing, and helping.
Just an old bear addicted to Bittensor.
Outsider – Question 2
I think we have some things in common. I’m from Brazil and I’ve also missed some missed opportunities due to lack of fluent English. I lost a marketing contract with a player from the Bittensor ecosystem. It lasted a week. Life goes on. Right?
I wanted to understand something here.
Does the Moonshot $TAO group still exist? What did you actually do to evangelize the network, I mean, at that time, $TAO cost what, 10$? How many holders, around 1000?
Punisher’s Answer
Yes, I do miss, and probably will continue to miss, some opportunities because of the language barrier. It’s frustrating, but it won’t make me give up. I truly believe that what is meant to happen will happen when the time is right. Maybe one day, French-speaking builders will need me, and maybe I simply don’t have enough skills yet to claim anything, only the future will tell.
About Moonshot, the adventure started in July 2023. The instructions from BET and TOD were simple: show $TAO to the world. Written content, images, videos, anything was good as long as it helped spread the word about Bittensor. That’s also when Evert Scoot emerged, this guy is brilliant and has done a lot for the network.
Back then, nothing existed yet. We had to imagine, create, experiment. And that’s what felt magical to me: growing alongside the network itself. The first memes were simple, sometimes even stupid, but they evolved as tools evolved. My content evolved too.
I should even be able to find the ancestor of Magellan, my first mental map of the network. At the beginning, it was just a few lines under a tweet because there were only a handful of subnets.
A beautiful time when everyone got along, when everything felt new and exciting.
For me, it became a passion, discovering the joy of creating content, learning, sharing, building.
My first entry into $TAO was around October 2022. I had been in crypto for barely six months, with zero knowledge. I bought OTC for the first time, sweating bullets, when I traded some of my Bitcoin for TAO, just under $40.
We weren’t many holders back then… but what an experience!
And after that came the best part: discovering price discovery, sometimes several times in a single day. I would love to relive that feeling, it was unique.
Outsider – Question 3
Really good to hear stories from the trenches. Now, to wrap things up, how about you put together a list of the 5 most promising subnets for 2026?
If possible, include one sentence that sums up why you chose each one. And one more thing: please try to dig up those old memes!
Punisher’s Answer
You asked me for a list of promising subnets.
It’s not a simple task, because I don’t want it to be taken as absolute truth.
In reality, I believe around twenty projects are on the right path, the one that leads to success through time, building, and resilience.
Before naming any, let me give some context.
I manage several long-term wallets, it’s an experiment, and I am the guinea pig of that experiment:
🔹 Wallet #1 “VC dTAO”
Originally 50 subnets.
One has been deregistered, and others will likely follow.
Once deregistered positions return 1 TAO, I plan to reallocate into the top 5 of the wallet.
🔹 Wallet #2 “Prediction Basket”
Started with 8 positions.
SN31 was deregistered, SN67 turned into a rug/exploit → sold, and reallocated into my #1 position.
🔹 Wallet #3 “Matrix Adoption”
20 subnets that I believe will reach the real world and be used by mainstream users in the coming years.
🔹 Wallet #4 (coming soon)
Focused on pure AI, built by OGs with real technical value.
I plan to launch it shortly.
I commit to sharing its progress wins as well as losses, transparently.
So you understand why it’s hard to pick only 5 projects from so many.
But I’ll play the game.
They are not ranked by preference:
⭐ 5 subnets worth keeping an eye on
• SN44 SCORE
A highly driven team.
Real partnerships, clear execution, fast iteration.
Max lives day and night for his project and communicates well with the community.
A rare kind of builder.
• SN60 Bitsec
What John is building is essential for the ecosystem.
Humble person, available, technical, security-focused.
Results are coming, this one deserves a radar spot.
• SN123 MANTIS
Barbarian is young, brilliant, ambitious.
Communication needs polish, but maturity will fix that.
I had the chance to speak with him and his mother, and beyond the genius and signal machine,
there’s a human story that truly touched me.
I love supporting young ambitious minds, they are building the world our children will inherit.
• SN45 Talisman AI
When I researched them, everything clicked:
they have all the ingredients to succeed.
Their work with Talisman (wallet #1 on the network) and connections with DNA Fund speak for themselves.
A project that will grow with Bittensor, not beside it.
• SN120 Affine
An essential one.
Const is leading, and his project lifts the entire network upward.
It’s hard to be in Bittensor, hold $TAO,
and not have exposure to SN120.
I could go on, many other subnets deserve attention,
and I’ll continue highlighting them on my account.
It was a pleasure to answer your questions with full transparency.
If you need memes, just ask, I’ve already posted some on The Nerds and on my X account.
A bit retro, a bit goofy, especially mine 😂 but fun and educational.
We grow together.
Outsider – Outro
Our interview was very cool! I appreciate your honesty and your time. Thank you so much! Punisher shared a few articles for anyone who wants to learn more about his wallets:
https://x.com/CryptoZPunisher/status/1979872485849141342?s=20
https://x.com/CryptoZPunisher/status/1994728698038149439?s=20
https://x.com/CryptoZPunisher/status/2004181521582743609?s=20
https://x.com/CryptoZPunisher/status/1994728698038149439?s=20
And he also sent us some old-school memes!:
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