Barry Silbert. To many the name evokes thoughts of untold 2017 crypto bitcoin riches, Grayscale’s crypto kingdom and most recently the downfall of Genesis. These days, however, he’s placing his biggest bets on Bittensor, a decentralized AI network that he believes is the wave of the future. Yet the prospect of a democratized, more equitable and intelligent web feels somewhat utopian. I can’t help thinking that we’re on the verge of repeating that same mistake— this time under the banner of technological disruption. Is Bittensor genuinely revolutionary, or merely another rehashing of crypto’s built-in extractive tendencies, turbocharged by the AI hype train?
AI's Promise, Crypto's Pitfalls
The idea behind Bittensor is undeniably compelling. Providing incentives for an international network of bright people to fix issues with blockchain supported rewards? An "intelligent World Wide Web"? That’s like something out of a cyberpunk novel. This idea of subnets, each focusing on their own larger technical problems such as predicting Bitcoin prices or improving logistics, sounds interesting. Let's be real: crypto's track record on equitable distribution is abysmal. In our experience, we’ve watched this story play out time and again. Capital- and tech-heavy early adopters get most of the benefits in these touted decentralized networks.
Think about it. Bittensor claims a “fair launch” similar to Bitcoin, no VC or pre-mined tokens. Sounds great, right? The true beneficiaries of a fair launch are… Those with the resources to immediately acquire and stake tokens, those with the computational power to mine, and those with the expertise to navigate the complexities of the network. The average person? Not so much. Consequently, they’re left scrambling for the leftovers, waiting to ride the wave long after it’s crested.
Decentralization or Centralized Control?
Silbert says Bittensor is not focused on creating a new digital gold or removing government power. It's about solving major problems. But solving problems for whom? Bittensor provides highly lucrative economic rewards for its participants. It subsidizes computing providers, model owners, and data owners, making it a very attractive ecosystem in principle. They create a powerful incentive to participate. But then, who exactly are these computing providers, model owners and data owners supposed to be? Large technology companies that operate server farms, large AI research labs, and those who already have monopolistic access to massive amounts of data.
- Winners: Existing entities with resources (computing power, data).
- Losers: Individuals, small startups without substantial capital.
This is not decentralization — far from it — but a reorganization of centralized control. Rather than governments or corporations controlling AI, we’re in danger of ceding that control to a new class of crypto-savvy elites. Grayscale recently launched a Bittensor Trust, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle twice like it did with Bitcoin. This decision paves the way for the colossal institutional investors to consolidate their power in this “decentralized” web.
Bittensor: Store of Value or Social Divider?
Silbert is even enough to insinuate that Bittensor might be an improved Bitcoin as a global store of value. Here’s where my outrage meter completely redlines. Bitcoin, for all its warts, at least had the libertarian fantasy going for it of a currency they couldn’t print. Now Bittensor appears to be trying to position itself as the thing with the most value. It harnesses the shared brainpower of a worldwide community. If only the wealthy and powerful get access to that network and its rewards, Bittensor becomes an instrument of inequity. It exacerbates our current disadvantages under the guise of fostering some futuristic technological utopia.
We need to ask tough questions. What steps can we take to prevent Bittensor’s subnet structure from fostering opportunities for exploitation or marginalization? What redistribution mechanisms can be put in place to take the wealth produced by Bittensor and use it to redress society’s inequities? Otherwise, we risk Bittensor simply becoming another tool for the privileged. What’s important now is that we make sure they don’t use it to entrench their power even further.
The future of AI must not become a rerun of crypto’s early blunders. It's time to demand accountability and ensure that decentralized intelligence truly benefits everyone, not just Barry Silbert's next big bet.
