Gate News: As the Bittensor subnetwork ecosystem rapidly expands, the total staked TAO tokens have surged from approximately $74,400 USD in the past 12 months to over $620 million USD, an increase of 833,000%, demonstrating strong investor enthusiasm for subnet participation. As a core component of Bittensor’s decentralized AI infrastructure, the number of subnets has grown from about 80 to over 120 during the same period.
Multiple subnets have shown impressive monthly performance, with Templar leading at a 171% increase, followed by Quasar (146%), NOVA (66%), Targon (36%), and iota (29%). According to CoinGecko data, the total market cap of Bittensor subnet tokens has surpassed $1.5 billion USD, with all tracked subnets generating positive returns over the past month.
Despite the significant rise in staked amounts, most TAO tokens have not yet entered subnets. Bittensor Fund partner Mark Jeffrey stated that currently only 19% of TAO is staked in subnets, while about 48% remains in Root. He predicts that once the first subnet’s market cap exceeds $1 billion USD, stakers in Root will begin to heavily enter subnets. Even without new TAO purchases, the subnet market cap could grow three to four times.
In terms of price performance, TAO has been steadily rising since early March. BeInCrypto reported that after NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang mentioned the Covenant-72B model on the All-In Podcast, TAO’s price broke through $300 USD. Recent short squeeze events have further amplified the rally; although a correction occurred, TAO continues its upward trend this week, with gains exceeding 20% over the past week, outperforming the overall cryptocurrency market.
At press time, TAO has increased nearly 11% in the past 24 hours, trading at approximately $339 USD, making it one of the best performers among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap and reaching a new high since November 2025.