Grayscale bets on ‘decentralized AI’ with first-ever Bittensor ETF filing
Whereas most of 2025 centered on Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], and Ripple [XRP] ETFs, Grayscale turned its focus to decentralized AI.
On the thirtieth of December, the asset supervisor filed an S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee to transform Grayscale Bittensor Belief right into a Spot ETF.
If authorised, the product would permit institutional traders to achieve price-linked publicity to Bittensor’s TAO token by means of a U.S.-listed trade.
The timing of the submitting is as strategic because the product itself
The submitting adopted Bittensor’s first halving event in mid-December 2025, which decreased day by day TAO emissions to three,600 tokens. And now, Grayscale is betting on a “provide shock meets institutional demand” narrative.
With a tough cap of 21 million TAO, this discount in emissions is designed to curb inflation and reward long-term individuals.
Evidently, the market’s response was additionally fast.
TAO’s worth reclaimed the $220 stage. Furthermore, it successfully worn out intraday losses as merchants priced within the potential for a recent wave of Wall Road liquidity.
At press time, TAO climbed to $220.77, a 1.05% enhance over 24 hours as per CoinMarketCap.
By taking GTAO to the NYSE Arca, Grayscale is attempting to make decentralized AI a proper funding class in conventional finance.
Institutional-grade infrastructure
In line with the filing, Coinbase would act as prime dealer, whereas Coinbase Custody Belief Firm and BitGo Belief Firm would function custodians.
The belief deliberate to make use of each in-kind and money creation and redemption mechanisms, permitting licensed individuals to trade shares straight for TAO.
Nevertheless, the submitting clarified that staking isn’t at the moment permitted.
The belief could solely stake TAO if regulatory and tax circumstances are happy sooner or later. No timeline was offered.
What’s extra?
Grayscale’s push for a Bittensor ETF isn’t an remoted occasion. It’s a tactical piece of a a lot bigger, aggressive enlargement.
Even because the GTAO submitting grabbed headlines, Grayscale was busy refining its Avalanche [AVAX] and Sui [SUI] choices.
Now, whether or not the SEC grants approval in mid-2026 stays the ultimate variable, however for now, the institutional bridge to Decentralized AI has formally been constructed.
Closing Ideas
- With emissions halved, TAO enters a structurally scarce period.
- The subsequent 12 months will decide TAO’s institutional trajectory, with the ETF choice doubtless setting the tone for AI-token investing.
