Barry Silbert, Digital Currency Group's CEO, expressed that he believes Bittensor (TAO) has the potential to surpass Bitcoin (BTC) as a global store of value. This statement comes in light of Bittensor's network growth, as its subnet ecosystem market capitalization and the price of the TAO token have been increasing.
In a recent conversation with Raoul Pal, Silbert emphasized the rising significance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the cryptocurrency industry. He sees Bittensor as leading this revolution and representing the next major phase for crypto investments. Silbert compared Bittensor to early Bitcoin in terms of innovation but highlighted its broader goal of not just financial sovereignty.
He suggested that the investment currently spent on securing the Bitcoin network could be redirected to incentivize a global network of individuals addressing significant real-world issues. Silbert envisions this redirection leading to massive innovation and potentially growing into a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem. He stressed Bittensor's similarity to Bitcoin in terms of economic model, halving mechanisms, and decentralization, positioning it as a strong candidate for a more impactful global network focused on value.
Silbert underlined the unique position of Bittensor among decentralized AI projects, noting its achievement of "escape velocity," indicating rapid growth and increased market influence. He described the vast majority of crypto tokens as having no valid purpose or value.
The market data indicates a growing interest in Bittensor, with the TAO token showing a 32.1% rise in the past week amidst market volatility. Additionally, TAO is currently the most searched cryptocurrency on CoinGecko and Google Trends data shows a peak in search volume.
Moreover, the Bittensor ecosystem is making significant progress, with the market capitalization of Bittensor's subnet tokens more than doubling in April 2025, showing a 166% increase from $181 million at the start of April to $481 million currently. This growth follows a tripling in the number of active subnets over the last year.