On October 10, Grayscale Investments submitted a Form 10 registration statement for the Bittensor Trust (TAO) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), opening the door for this AI-centric crypto asset trust to move towards compliance and the public market. If approved, the private holding period for trust shares will be reduced from 12 months to 6 months, meaning early investors will gain liquidity faster and create conditions for institutional capital to enter.
A few days later, the publicly listed company TAO Synergies Inc. (NASDAQ: TAOX) announced the completion of a $11 million private financing round, with investors including TAO strategy advisor James Altucher and Grayscale's parent company DCG. This news quickly ignited market confidence—over the past week, the price of TAO surged from $290 to $457, an increase of over 50%.
As AI becomes one of Wall Street's strongest narratives, TAO is gradually being seen as a bridge connecting regulated finance and decentralized AI networks. Market sentiment is high, trading activity is increasing, and TAO has not only become a new "AI target" in the eyes of institutions but is also expected to set a historical high since April 2024.
What Form 10 Means
The so-called Form 10 is a registration document under Section 12(g) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, officially known as the General Form for Registration of Securities. When a trust or fund product submits Form 10 to the SEC and it is accepted, it means that it upgrades from a "private trust" to a "SEC reporting company," requiring it to fulfill the same information disclosure obligations as publicly listed companies—this includes regularly submitting 10-K (annual report), 10-Q (quarterly report), and 8-K (current report). In other words, once Form 10 becomes effective, the TAO Trust will be formally included in the U.S. mainstream securities regulatory system.
Similar to Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Ethereum Trust (ETHE), the goal of the TAO Trust is to list on the OTC Markets, allowing traditional investors to directly allocate this asset through brokerage accounts. Looking back at Grayscale's path: GBTC submitted Form 10 in 2019, followed by ETHE in 2020, and both subsequently transformed into spot ETFs. TAO's current actions are following the same trajectory.
For TAO, the significance of this action is threefold:
Shortening the liquidity cycle. The holding period is reduced from 12 months to 6 months, meaning previously locked private shares can circulate in the secondary market faster, releasing funds for early investors and activating trading depth.
Opening a compliance gateway. Once the registration becomes effective, the trust can be quoted on the OTC Markets, allowing traditional brokerages and family offices to invest in TAO in the form of securities, without needing to directly interact with crypto wallets or custody services.
Laying the foundation for ETF conversion. Grayscale has already validated the "Form 10 → ETF" path with its BTC and ETH trusts, and Form 10 is the starting point, paving the way for future applications for exchange-traded products (ETPs).
"TAO Microstrategy" Takes Action Again
On October 14, publicly listed company TAO Synergies Inc. (NASDAQ: TAOX) announced the completion of a total of $11 million in private financing, with investors including TAO strategy advisor James Altucher and early supporter of Bittensor, Digital Currency Group (DCG).
The company, formerly a biotech firm Synaptogenix, completed a strategic transformation in July this year and made its first purchase of 29,899 TAO tokens, totaling approximately $10 million. As of now, TAOX has become the largest holder of TAO globally, with all holdings incorporated into the corporate treasury, and plans to stake the tokens on the Bittensor mainnet to participate in network computing and model training, generating long-term returns. Since the transformation in July, the company's stock price has increased more than threefold, remaining strong even amid a general pullback in DAT-type companies.
TAO strategy advisor James Altucher stated: "This financing further solidifies TAO Synergies' long-term strategy, which includes not only holding and managing TAO tokens but also creating revenue and accumulating influence within the Bittensor ecosystem. We welcome DCG's participation—it is a leader in the crypto industry and one of Bittensor's earliest supporters. We are confident in the future of decentralized intelligence and believe that Bittensor's network model will become a key driver of innovation and value creation in the coming years."
On-chain data shows that Bittensor's market share in the DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) sector has exceeded 33%. With the accelerated layout of institutional capital, TAO is gradually transitioning from a mere "AI concept coin" to a foundational asset with real network value and cash flow models. The market generally believes that the dual actions of TAOX and Grayscale are becoming an important watershed for institutionalization in the AI sector.
Summary
As Wall Street's enthusiasm for the AI narrative continues to rise, from NVIDIA to OpenAI to Bittensor, this wave of AI is rapidly spreading to the crypto market, with TAO becoming a core beneficiary. With the restructuring of dTAO's incentive mechanism and the approaching first halving, TAO is expected to challenge its historical high of $1247 again. After Bitcoin's golden decade, the AI narrative may become the next capital consensus, and TAO stands at the starting point of this new era.
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