Bittensor: the path to full decentralization will take a year and a half
Jacob Steeves, founder of Bittensor, made an important admission: at this point, the project cannot be considered a fully decentralized protocol. The reason is the need to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence technologies, which requires centralized management in the initial stages.
Steeves drew a clear parallel with Bitcoin. Unlike the first cryptocurrency, which was originally designed as a system resistant to government control, Bittensor is at an early stage of development. Currently, the network is managed by a small group of engineers. This approach allows the team to quickly implement updates and fix bugs without sacrificing quality for the sake of "democratic" procedures.
Three Community Groups
The project head divided the community into three categories. For supporters without technical knowledge, detailed explanations for each update are promised. The team already works directly with developers. However, Steeves intends to ignore the opinions of "scammers and critics" who use the idea of decentralization to block updates.
At the same time, the founder emphasized that Bittensor is already decentralized at the ownership level: the project had no premine, and 128 subnet teams are functioning on the network. This is an important nuance that shows the centralization is temporary.
Roadmap
Development plans include launching short position mechanisms to protect against manipulation and implementing rights for alpha token holders. Steeves intends to transfer network control to the community within the next year and a half, once the protocol's core mechanisms are fully ready.
Bittensor provides access to computing resources through an open global network without intermediaries, making it a key player in the decentralized AI sector.
My analysis: Steeves' position is pragmatic and understandable. In the race for leadership in decentralized AI, development speed is critical. However, the year-and-a-half timeline is a serious challenge for the team. Success will depend on whether they can build governance mechanisms that do not slow down development after control is transferred to the community. If the plan works, Bittensor could become a benchmark for the entire sector.