Détails

Source

TAO Daily

Publication

27 sept. à 12h45

Lien direct

https://taodaily.io/the-sec-is-starting-to-make-room-for-the-kind-of-crypto-economy-bittensor-is-building/

Contenu source (brut)

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For much of the last decade, building a token economy in the United States has come with an uncomfortable question hanging over everything: at what point does normal crypto activity become securities activity?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For context, a security is an investment that comes with certain legal protections and reporting rules. Stocks and bonds are common examples. In crypto, the harder question has been whether a token or the way it is sold can also count as a security, which would bring it under U.S. securities laws.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="790" height="444" src="https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-276.png" alt="" class="wp-image-25085" srcset="https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-276.png 790w, https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-276-300x169.png 300w, https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-276-678x381.png 678w, https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-276-767x431.png 767w" sizes="(max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://napkinfinance.com/napkin/finance-securities/">Napkin Finance:</a> What Are Securities?</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That uncertainty has shaped the industry. Coinbase spent years fighting the SEC over claims that parts of its business fell under securities law. Ripple went through a long legal battle over XRP. Staking, token sales, exchange listings and even the way projects talked about future development all became areas where teams had to think carefully about what regulators might consider an investment contract.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That environment did not stop crypto from growing, but it made serious builders cautious. It also made it harder for institutions to participate because large companies tend to avoid markets where the rules are still being argued out in court.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The SEC’s latest crypto guidance suggests that this situation is beginning to change.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On September 25, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance published a new set of <a href="https://www.sec.gov/about/divisions-offices/division-corporation-finance/faqs-crypto-assets">FAQs on crypto assets</a>. They are not new laws and they do not give any specific network a regulatory blessing. But they give a much clearer picture of how the agency currently thinks about working crypto systems, and several parts are unusually relevant to Bittensor.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The key idea is simple. The SEC is drawing a stronger line between a token tied to a functioning network and a token being sold mainly on the promise that a team will build something valuable later.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That distinction is important because Bittensor is increasingly trying to prove exactly that point in practice.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The buyback guidance is where Bittensor becomes especially interesting</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The strongest connection to Bittensor comes from the SEC’s comments on token buybacks.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The staff specifically discusses buybacks carried out for treasury management, supply reduction, protocol-funded burns and similar economic purposes. Its position is that, where the underlying token is already a non-security and the crypto system is functional, announcing a buyback does not automatically create the kind of promise of managerial effort that would turn the arrangement into an investment contract.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That is a meaningful statement because buybacks and burns have become an increasingly important part of Bittensor’s economic story.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>The TAO Daily</em> recently covered how manual burns <a href="https://taodaily.io/manual-burns-are-becoming-a-real-economic-force-across-bittensor/">are becoming</a> a real economic force across Bittensor. Three months ago, only 8 of Bittensor’s 128 subnets had recorded manual burns. That figure has now increased to 17, while the amount of alpha burned has grown from roughly 3,700 TAO worth to around 6,600 TAO worth.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="465" src="https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-277.png" alt="" class="wp-image-25086" srcset="https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-277.png 1024w, https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-277-300x136.png 300w, https://taodaily.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-277-766x348.png 766w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Manual burns on</strong> <a href="https://taoflute.com/d/c043704a-865a-4eaf-8d41-7ffdbcaad6c7/subnets-overview?orgId=2&amp;from=now-6h&amp;to=now&amp;timezone=browser&amp;kiosk=&amp;var-target_subnets=$__all">TaoFlute</a> <strong>(red box)</strong></figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The interesting thing here is how the burns connect back to real business activity. Subnets are increasingly using revenue from their products to buy back alpha, reduce supply and strengthen their internal economies. For some teams, revenue-funded buybacks and burns are becoming a visible part of how the business and token economy work together.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For a long time, crypto critics could look at that structure and ask whether any public promise to buy tokens might itself create additional regulatory risk. The SEC’s latest position gives builders a more useful framework. A buyback can be part of the normal economics of a working network. It does not automatically mean the token has become a security.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bittensor is moving from emissions to economics</h2> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The first stage of Bittensor was mostly about emissions.&nbsp;Subnets competed for TAO emissions, miners competed for rewards, validators allocated weight and the network used incentives to attract useful work.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That system helped bootstrap the ecosystem, but emissions alone cannot be the end state. Eventually, useful subnets have to become businesses. They need customers, revenue and economic activity that exists beyond token incentives.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That transition is already beginning.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI inference subnets are serving workloads. Data networks are selling access. Infrastructure projects are finding customers. Some teams are reporting revenue and using part of it to support their subnet economies through buybacks and burns.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-tao-daily wp-block-embed-the-tao-daily"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="TG2ocWrFhA"><a href="https://taodaily.io/covenant-left-bittensor-has-other-20-state-of-the-art-subnets/">Covenant Left. Bittensor Has Other 20+ State-of-the-Art Subnets</a></blockquote><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="“Covenant Left. Bittensor Has Other 20+ State-of-the-Art Subnets” — The TAO Daily" src="https://taodaily.io/covenant-left-bittensor-has-other-20-state-of-the-art-subnets/embed/#?secret=kXIN4dqYLi#?secret=TG2ocWrFhA" data-secret="TG2ocWrFhA" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> </div></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As Bittensor moves from an emissions-led network toward one built around customers, revenue and real products, clearer rules become more important. The SEC’s latest guidance gives subnet teams a better idea of how buybacks, working networ