Covenant AI exits Bittensor; TAO drops 25% over centralization claims

Covenant AI quit Bittensor. The team cited governance disputes and alleged centralized control. Statement here.

Founder Sam Dare called Bittensor a “decentralized theater.” He said the network has “centralized control with decentralized branding.” He accused co‑founder Jacob Steeves (Const) of resisting authority transfer and pushing unilateral changes without process. Source.

Covenant AI ran three subnets: Templar (SN3), Basilica (SN39), Grail (SN81). Their Covenant‑72B model drew attention from NVIDIA’s CEO and Anthropic’s co‑founder, and previously fueled a rally in TAO. NewsBTC.

Dare also alleged punitive steps against Covenant: emissions to its subnets suspended, channel moderation overridden, subnet infra deprecated, and “economic pressure” via timed token sales. Statement.

Steeves denied the claims. He said he cannot suspend emissions and only sold some alpha holdings on three subnets that were “near 100% burn code,” adding he has no special privileges beyond normal holders. He said Dare deprecated his own channels and deleted critical posts, so he temporarily removed delete permissions and later restored them. Response.

A community member, Alex DRocks, backed parts of Steeves’ account, citing real‑time deletions and channel deprecations. Thread.

Price moved fast. Bittensor’s token fell 25%, from $340 to $250, then bounced toward $260. Analyst Ardi noted sell volume hit a high not seen since Dec 2024, one day before the news, calling it a “calculated exit.” He warned the chart faces 18‑month high sell volume at key support, after a recent breakout and “accumulation continuation.” Analysis context.

Headline: Covenant AI exits Bittensor over governance; TAO drops 25%