Digital asset investment firm Grayscale Investments submitted a registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday to convert its Bittensor Trust into an exchange-traded fund, marking the first attempt to launch a US spot ETF with direct exposure to Bittensor's native token, TAO.

The filing represents a progression in Grayscale's established strategy of converting digital asset trusts into publicly traded investment vehicles. The proposed ETF would trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker GTAO, with Coinbase and BitGo serving as custodians.

“This milestone is the next step in converting $GTAO to an ETP, which would make it the first $TAO ETP in the U.S. and another first for Grayscale”, wrote Grayscale on X (formerly Twitter).

The Bittensor Trust has been available through private placement to accredited investors since August 2024. Earlier this month, the trust began trading on OTC Markets under the ticker GTAO, becoming the first publicly quoted investment product in the United States designed to provide exposure to TAO. 

Context: Bittensor’s First Halving

The filing follows Bittensor's first halving event, which occurred on December 14. The halving reduced daily token issuance by 50% from 7,200 to 3,600 TAO, implementing a deflationary mechanism similar to Bitcoin's quadrennial halvings. Like Bitcoin, Bittensor maintains a maximum supply cap of 21 million tokens.

TAO serves as the native token of Bittensor, a decentralized network focused on artificial intelligence infrastructure. The network operates on a hub-and-spoke blockchain architecture that supports application-specific subnets, with participants earning TAO by contributing computing resources to AI-driven networks.

Per CoinMarketCap data, TAO traded at around $222 following the announcement, having stabilized after a post-halving price decline. Today, the token remains significantly below its 2024 peak.

Sources: 

• SEC Filing: Form S-1, Grayscale Bittensor Trust (TAO)
• Grayscale: Social Media Communications
• The Block: Grayscale files for spot Bittensor ETF following network’s first halving event.
• Global News Wire: Grayscale Bittensor Trust Begins Trading on OTC Markets and is Now SEC Reporting

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