Grayscale Launches Bittensor ETF After Network’s Historic Halving Event

Grayscale Investments submitted an S-1 registration statement to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on December 30, 2025. The filing aims to convert the Grayscale Bittensor Trust into a spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), providing regulated access to TAO, the native token of the Bittensor AI network.

The move comes just weeks after Bittensor’s first halving event in mid-December, which reduced daily token emissions and introduced greater scarcity. If approved, the ETF will be listed on NYSE Arca under the existing ticker symbol GTAO, potentially becoming the first U.S. spot product for TAO.

Trust Evolution and ETF Conversion Details

Grayscale initially launched the Bittensor Trust in August 2024 for accredited investors. The trust started operations in June 2024 and began public trading on the OTCQX market under the ticker GTAO on December 11, 2025. At launch, it held about $10.8 million in TAO assets and charged a 2.5% annual fee to cover operational costs. 

The trust holds only TAO tokens, which are kept in cold storage by Coinbase Custody and BitGo Trust Company. Shares of the trust track the value of TAO using the Coin Metrics Real-Time Bittensor Reference Rate, after deducting fees and liabilities. Grayscale plans to rename the trust to Grayscale Bittensor Trust ETF if the S-1 filing is approved. 

The change will allow for in-kind creations and redemptions by authorized participants. However, staking TAO tokens is not permitted to maintain the grantor trust tax status and to prevent the generation of unrelated business taxable income for investors. The conversion represents Grayscale’s prior successful uplistings, such as those of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Chainlink trusts into ETFs.

Halving Dynamics and Market Context

Bittensor’s first halving happened earlier in December 2025. The event occurred automatically when the network reached half of its total supply limit of 21 million TAO tokens. As a result, daily emissions dropped from about 7,200 tokens to 3,600 tokens, reducing the block reward from 1 TAO to 0.5 TAO. 

After the halving event, TAO was trading at approximately $220, with a market capitalization of around $2.32 billion and a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $70 million. However, following the announcement of an ETF filing, its price rose slightly from $219 to $222 before settling at $220, but it still faces market fluctuations.

Analysts believe that a slowdown in supply growth and institutional investments like GTAO could boost future demand. Meanwhile, the SEC’s timeline for review remains uncertain, with possible approval in 2026, depending on changes and market conditions.

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