Bittensor Major Emissions Update
Bittensor is rolling out a flow-based emissions model for subnet pools, replacing the earlier approach that allocated TAO by relative subnet price. In the new design, what matters is actual TAO flow – staking in minus unstaking out – smoothed with an exponential moving average so short-term volatility doesn’t dominate. Only subnets with positive EMA flowqualify for injections; if the averaged flow is zero or negative, that subnet simply receives zero emissions until inflows return.
This isn’t an overnight switch in Bittensor. There’s a 30-day transition during which the old price-based method winds down while the flow-based method ramps up to full effect. The change aims to align emissions with real capital movement, rewarding subnets that can attract and keep stake, and discouraging reliance on price signals that can be noisy or gameable.
The update lands just ahead of a network halving, which will reduce total TAO emitted per block by half. That means even for subnets that maintain a healthy share of flows, absolute emissions will decline after the halving, reinforcing the importance of sustaining positive, organic inflows.
