In a significant step toward the mainstreaming of decentralized artificial intelligence, Grayscale Investments has officially filed for the first-ever Bittensor (TAO) Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) in the United States.
The filing, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 30, 2025, marks a pivotal moment for both the crypto industry and the evolving AI landscape.
From Trust to ETP: Grayscale’s Strategic Pivot
The move follows the recent success of the Grayscale Bittensor Trust (GTAO), which transitioned to a publicly quoted, SEC-reporting entity on the OTCQX market earlier this month. By filing an S-1 for a formal ETP, Grayscale aims to move the asset onto a national securities exchange, mirroring the evolutionary path taken by its flagship Bitcoin and Ethereum funds.
Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research, highlighted the timing of the filing: "Bittensor is emerging as the 'Internet of AI'—an open ecosystem where collective intelligence can grow in a transparent and fair way. Providing regulated access through an ETP is the next logical step in meeting the explosive institutional demand for decentralized AI."
Riding the DeAI Momentum
The filing comes at a time of "perfect storm" conditions for Bittensor:
The First Halving: The network recently completed its first-ever halving (mid-December 2025), which reduced the daily issuance of TAO from 7,200 to 3,600 tokens. This supply-side squeeze has historically been a bullish catalyst for decentralized protocols.
Institutional Adoption: Decentralized AI (DeAI) has become one of the most dominant investment themes of late 2025. Investors are increasingly seeking "neutral" alternatives to the centralized AI monopolies controlled by Big Tech.
Performance Milestones: Bittensor subnets have recently demonstrated utility that rivals centralized competitors, including a coding agent that outperformed top-tier proprietary models in recent benchmarks.
The Market Impact
The news had an immediate effect on the markets, with TAO’s price climbing above the $220 mark shortly after the filing became public. With a market capitalization currently hovering around $2.3 billion, Bittensor is cementing its position as the leading asset in the AI crypto sector.
If approved, the Bittensor ETP would allow traditional investors to gain exposure to TAO through their standard brokerage accounts, bypassing the complexities of digital wallets and decentralized exchanges.
What’s Next?
The SEC now faces a review period to evaluate the filing. While the regulatory environment for crypto ETPs has softened following the passage of the GENIUS Act and the success of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the approval of an "altcoin" ETP for a sector as niche as decentralized AI will be closely watched.
For the Bittensor ecosystem, this filing is more than just a financial milestone—it is a validation of the "grassroots" AI movement. As Jacob Steeves, Co-Founder of Bittensor, noted, "Wider market access allows more investors to take part in the emergence of decentralized AI, supporting the momentum we’re seeing across the entire ecosystem."
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