Bittensor on Base: TaoFi's Token Bridge

Previously, buying Bittensor subnet tokens came with lots of friction.

You needed to download a Bittensor-native wallet, acquire and stake TAO (Bittensor's native token), understand validator mechanics, and navigate an entirely separate ecosystem just to access what might be one of the best kept secrets of Crypto AI today. 

For those catching up, Bittensor is a decentralized AI network where purpose-built subnets compete to provide specialized AI services — ranging from crowdsourced compute to trading signals. Each subnet has its own token that captures value from that specific AI market.

Think of it like buying equity in individual AI startups, except these "startups" are permissionless protocols generating real revenue from their network’s demand.

While many of these subnet tokens have seen incredible price discovery, their markets have remained small due to the difficulty of getting your hands on them.

TaoFi, built by contributors from Sturdy Protocol and Subnet 10 (SN10), looks to fix this, bridging Bittensor’s ecosystem with the liquidity of the entire EVM landscape. As of last Friday, you can now go to taofi.com, connect your wallet on Base, and swap USDC, ETH, or Tether directly into Bittensor subnet tokens. 

How TaoFi Actually Works

The magic happens through Bittensor EVM — a chain that runs Ethereum-compatible code inside the Bittensor ecosystem.

When you swap USDC on Base for subnet tokens, here's what happens under the hood:

1. Your Base USDC gets bridged to Bittensor EVM automatically. 
2. It's then swapped for TAO using a native Uniswap v3 pool already live on Bittensor EVM. 
3. That TAO is then staked into the appropriate subnet on Bittensor’s chain, while you receive subnet tokens in return that will automatically start accruing yield.

For this to work, your subnet tokens are held in a Hyperlane-powered interchain account — essentially a remote-controlled smart wallet on Bittensor EVM. You don't need to manage this wallet directly. Your MetaMask controls it, and TaoFi displays your balances inside the app.

To be clear, these aren't wrapped tokens. You're getting native subnet tokens routed through existing Bittensor pools, preserving emissions and protocol-native behavior. This means TaoFi avoids the liquidity bootstrapping issues that plague most bridges. You're accessing existing subnet liquidity on Bittensor directly. The liquidity is already there and growing.

This subnet-buying interface adds to TaoFi's growing product suite, which includes a TAO-native stablecoin, liquid staked sTAO, the TaoFi Bridge enabling all this, and TaoFi Swap powering it.

Two Ways to Play

This new swap feature set opens up two strategies for getting exposure to the subnet economy, each with different risk/reward profiles.

For those more comfortable with just buying tokens, you can simply do that — purchase the subnet tokens you want exposure to while getting direct access to their native yield in the process.

But for those willing to play around with DeFi strategies and take on additional risk, you can provide liquidity to these subnet pools, earning both trading fees and SN10 rewards.

Here's how each strategy works:

1. Buy Subnet Tokens

For buying subnet tokens, simply:

• Go to taofi.com
• Connect your wallet (on Base)
• Choose your input token (USDC, ETH, or Tether)
• Select the subnet token you want (e.g. SHOOTs)
• Execute the swap
• Tokens immediately begin earning emissions (currently ~60-90% APR depending on the subnet)

Your subnet tokens stay in the smart account you control via your wallet, earning yield from day one, so don’t worry if they don’t appear in your balance. Know there will be a bit of a lag as the swap takes 1-2 mins in total and more gas than you’d expect — have about $6 of ETH on Base ready for the swap.

2. Provide Liquidity (and Farm SN10)

To provide liquidity and earn from dual rewards sources:

• Go to taofi.com/pool
• Supply USDC or TAO to the Uniswap v3 pool on Bittensor EVM
• If starting with ETH or Tether, TaoFi converts automatically
• Your funds flow into a single unified pool (USDC ↔ TAO) and you start earning.

The SN10 rewards currently offer ~650% APR, though this’ll drop as more liquidity comes in. But, unlike typical yield farming, these rewards tie directly to protocol activity and subnet token demand — you're earning based on real usage, not inflationary emissions.

Overall, TaoFi’s decision to turn to Base first is a smart play given the chain’s role as the most active, Ethereum-related speculative arena in crypto today. 

Tapping into this capital could provide the subnet market with significant juice if there’s more AI appetite to come, which is a pretty safe bet to make right now.

While it’s early and the fees across the swaps are not ideal yet, this bridge holds a lot of potential for weaving a very serious and devout AI ecosystem (Bittensor) into crypto’s primary liquidity network, Ethereum.