Yanez (SN54) Addressed Token Holder Concerns, Buybacks, and Business Sustainability

Yanez (SN54) has reported around 12 to 15 enterprise customers and an estimated $25,000 to $30,000 allocated to alpha buybacks.

On Incentive Search 2, co-founder Jose Caldera discussed how the company is building commercial products using Bittensor.

The conversation was notably unfiltered, with the host, Tao Templar, pressing Jose on company equity versus alpha tokens, potential rug-pull risks, wallet movements, and mining operations.

He also questioned whether the company’s commercial revenue would ultimately translate into value for token holders.

From Synthetic Identities to Proof of Humanhood

Yanez began by generating synthetic identities to help financial institutions test sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, and KYC systems.

After joining Bittensor’s mainnet in June 2025, the team expanded into detecting artificial identities, launching its proof-of-humanhood technology in August 2026.

The company subsequently released Pulse and Gate, two products designed for AI agent transactions.

Pulse enables biometric authorization, while Gate facilitates payments without exposing users’ payment credentials to agents. Gate charges a 1% transaction fee.

Jose noted that Yanez serves around 12 to 15 enterprise customers, including financial institutions, fintech companies, and crypto exchanges. Its newer proof-of-humanhood product has three initial customers, with two already in production.

Mining Incentives and Data Quality

Yanez allocates 35% of miner emissions to synthetic data generation, 35% to product adoption incentives, and burns the remaining 30%.

Its mining tasks focus on producing datasets for biometric verification, including facial liveness detection and synthetic voice generation.

Jose acknowledged that miners have repeatedly exploited weaknesses in the incentive mechanism. To address this, Yanez manually evaluates submissions after each mining cycle, resulting in occasional reward delays while the team works toward greater automation.

He also revealed that it took approximately six months to obtain miner-generated data suitable for commercial use. Despite the challenges, he considers continuous miner competition valuable for improving the subnet’s technology.

Revenue, Alpha Buybacks, and Token Holder Value

Yanez has allocated approximately 20% of realized revenue to alpha buybacks, with $25,000 to $30,000 reportedly directed into a public wallet.

For newer products, the company plans to convert all revenue into alpha, retaining 20% and using the remaining 80% for operations.

Tao Templar questioned whether alpha holders benefit as much as equity investors. Jose acknowledged the concern and said Yanez is exploring better alignment, with buybacks currently serving as its main approach.

The discussion also covered rug-pull risks brought by owner wallet transfers, which Jose attributed to security, investor distributions, and operational expenses. He cited substantial token locks, product delivery, and transparency as evidence of the team’s commitment.

Building a Business Independent of Emissions

Jose explained that Yanez uses Bittensor to source specialized datasets without relying on protocol emissions for its financial planning.

Although generating enterprise revenue, Yanez is not yet profitable. Jose expects the company could cover its operating expenses within approximately 12 months.

Asked what other subnet owners should consider, Jose responded, “What real market problem are you solving?” For Yanez, the priority is turning its identity verification and financial compliance products into sustainable revenue.

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