By: CryptoZPunisher
Introduction
On Bittensor, everything is visible. Every transaction, every position, every TAO movement. This radical transparency, inherited from blockchain, has its advantages, but also its limits. Large wallets, OTC desks, and even miners operate under constant exposure. Anyone can see when an actor enters or exits a subnet, sells tokens, or how much they earn.
Taonado, subnet 113, aims to reintroduce a fundamental right into the ecosystem: privacy. Inspired by Tornado Cash but designed for Bittensor, Taonado is a zero-knowledge mixer (ZK) built directly on the network’s EVM. Its goal is simple: allow users to transfer TAO without leaving any visible link between the sending and receiving addresses.
Explain Like I’m 5 (ELI5):
Imagine a big opaque bag in the middle of the Bittensor network. You put 1 TAO inside with your little secret note. That TAO gets mixed with hundreds of others. Later, you come back, show your secret note — and withdraw 1 new TAO on a different address.
Everyone can see that TAO are entering and leaving the bag, but nobody can tell which TAO came from where.
And since this is a Bittensor subnet, miners are paid to keep the system running: they deposit, withdraw, and redeposit in loops, making the mix stronger and the anonymity set larger. The result: collective privacy, powered by network incentives.
The origin: Tornado Cash, reimagined for TAO
The creator of Taonado, who remained anonymous during his Revenue Search appearance, summarized it perfectly:
➡️ YouTube Revenue Search Taonado
“Privacy should be the default, and disclosure the exception.”
Privacy should not be suspicious, it should be normal. On Ethereum, Tornado Cash served that purpose before being sanctioned by the OFAC. On Bittensor, Taonado takes up the torch, following the same core principles of mixing, but within a decentralized, incentive-aligned, TAO-native framework.
Each deposit generates a secret note that can later be used to withdraw without revealing the link to the original address. The protocol relies on zero-knowledge proofs (ZK), cryptographic mechanisms that let you prove you have the right to withdraw, without disclosing your identity.
Why make it a subnet?
Privacy only works at scale. A mixer with few users provides weak anonymity. This is where Bittensor’s model shines: rewarding participation in the mix itself.
Miners in SN113 don’t train AI models, they simulate user behavior by depositing and withdrawing TAO continuously. Their activity increases the size and credibility of the anonymity pool, and they are rewarded for it by the subnet.
Taonado introduces a new concept: Incentivized Privacy, privacy as useful work.
A subnet without validators
Taonado is one of the few validatorless subnets on Bittensor. All scoring happens directly on-chain through the EVM. Smart contracts record deposits, calculate scores, and distribute rewards automatically.
This design reduces the attack surface, removes intermediaries, and proves that a subnet can operate entirely on-chain, even validation itself is decentralized.
The economic model: fees and yield
The protocol has two main revenue streams:
- Mixing fees between 2.5% and 5% depending on the pool size, currently waived on the 1 TAO pool to encourage adoption, later converted into the subnet’s token and burned to create deflationary pressure.
- Yield on locked capital The funds sitting inside mixing pools can be used to generate returns (staking, restaking, etc.), which Taonado shares with depositors. This is a first: turning a privacy protocol into a yield-bearing mechanism without compromising anonymity.
The short-term goal is to reach 5,000 TAO in liquidity before opening the 10 and 100 TAO pools, ensuring a robust anonymity set.
The vision: privacy as the norm
Taonado doesn’t promote opacity, it promotes the freedom to choose what to reveal. As its founder said:
“You can’t be selective with privacy. It’s either privacy for all or privacy for none.”
In a network as transparent as Bittensor, this perspective opens a new chapter. It protects visible investors, subnet operators, and anyone who prefers to act without public exposure.
Normalizing privacy means building a healthier digital economy, one where financial behavior isn’t subject to constant scrutiny.
Roadmap
Taonado follows a clear roadmap:
- Bootstrap phase — attract liquidity (target: 5,000 TAO)
- Launch of 10 / 100 / 1,000 TAO pools
- Proof of Liquidity — cryptographic proof of participation without revealing balances
- Subnet token support
- Yield optimization and DeFi integrations
Each step expands the protocol while preserving full privacy.
Conclusion
Taonado is one of the most unconventional subnets on the Bittensor network. It doesn’t train models, it erases traces. By combining cryptography, incentives, and pragmatism, it redefines what “useful work” can mean in a decentralized system.
In an ecosystem where transparency is the norm, Taonado restores privacy to its rightful place not as a crime, but as a fundamental right.
If you missed $ZEC, this might be the asymmetric bomb hiding in plain sight.
Useful links
- Website: taonado.cash
- GitHub: github.com/taonado-cash
- X: @TaonadoCash
- Telegram: t.me/taonado
- taostats.io/subnets/113/chart
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