Bittensor validator warns Root Reborn proposal carries “substantial” risks

Yuma, one of Bittensor’s largest contributors and the network’s third-largest validator, has published a detailed critique of the proposed “Root Reborn” upgrade, arguing that the design introduces governance, regulatory, and market structure risks that outweigh its potential benefits.

The proposal, currently under review and not yet active on mainnet, would overhaul how root staking rewards are handled. Under the existing system, root dividends are effectively paid by automatically converting subnet alpha emissions back into $TAO. The new design would stop those automatic sales.

Instead, validators would set allocation weights across subnets. Root emissions would then be deployed into validator-selected baskets of subnet tokens, with stakers receiving redeemable claims on those positions rather than direct $TAO rewards.

The proposal states that the change would reduce automatic sell pressure on subnet assets and make validator allocation decisions a more important part of the network economy. It would also introduce new tools to track validator basket net asset value, subnet allocations, staker liabilities, and network-wide basket performance.

Yuma said the proposal changes the role of validators from infrastructure operators into active allocators of capital.

“In its current form, the Root Reborn proposal carries substantial unmitigated risk that outweighs its benefits,” the validator group wrote.

Yuma warns of conflicts and regulatory exposure

Yuma argued that validators would gain significant influence over capital flows inside the Bittensor ecosystem, creating incentives that may not always align with the interests of delegators.

The group said validators could direct allocations toward subnets in which they already hold positions or accept external incentives from subnet operators seeking additional capital. Yuma compared the structure to the lessons of the LIBOR scandal, where a small group of participants held influence over key financial benchmarks.

“Moral hazard is acute,” Yuma wrote, adding that validators should be expected to maximize their own financial returns.

The organization also questioned whether validator performance could be measured effectively under the proposed system. It said validators would not control redemption timing, making it difficult to maintain target portfolio allocations as users enter and exit positions.

Over time, Yuma argued, new emissions would represent an increasingly small portion of large validator baskets, limiting a validator’s ability to materially influence performance through future allocation decisions.

The report also raised concerns about regulatory treatment. Yuma said validators currently direct blockchain emissions, but Root Reborn would place them in a position where they actively determine subnet token exposure for delegators.

“Validators are no longer simply providing a neutral technological service due to the requirement to also set weights for subnet token rewards,” the group wrote.

Proposal seeks to reduce sell pressure on subnet assets

Supporters of the proposal have presented the upgrade as a mechanism to keep more value inside the subnet economy.

A summary accompanying the Subtensor pull request stated that root yield would move away from automatic subnet token sales and toward reinvestment across validator-selected subnets. The proposal described the change as a way to make validator selection depend on capital allocation decisions rather than primarily on fees or staking yields.

The proposal also said delegators would gain additional transparency through dashboard tools that display basket composition, net asset value, and outstanding liabilities owed to stakers.

Yuma acknowledged that subnets receiving validator allocations could benefit from increased demand and stronger token prices. The group wrote that subnets awarded meaningful weights would likely experience net-positive price effects, while subnets receiving little or no allocation could see neutral outcomes.

At the same time, Yuma warned that the structure could encourage lobbying efforts by subnet operators seeking validator support. The report said new projects may face greater barriers to entry if relationships with validators become an important factor in attracting capital.

The validator group also identified operational risks. Its report cited escrow concentration in a single coldkey, redemption dynamics that could create losses for late redeemers during periods of heavy withdrawals, repeated slippage costs from basket rebalancing, and execution challenges if network activity scales significantly.

Yuma urged the OpenTensor Foundation and network stakeholders to consider alternative approaches that allow stakers to express subnet preferences directly through opt-in mechanisms rather than concentrating allocation decisions among validators.

The group also called for a published upgrade roadmap, a defined release process, additional testing, and formal risk evaluation before any implementation proceeds.

The debate arrives days after Bittensor attracted renewed market attention following comments from Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl, who argued that recent U.S. restrictions on Anthropic’s advanced AI models could strengthen demand for decentralized AI networks. Pandl wrote that investors may increasingly look toward alternatives such as Bittensor as access to frontier AI systems becomes subject to centralized controls.

$TAO ($TAO) climbed roughly 30% within 12 hours after those developments, as per previous coverage on crypto.news. However, as of press time, $TAO is down over 6% as traders weigh the recent concerns around the Root Rebor proposal.