Key Highlights
- TAO token price increased nearly 100% throughout March, reaching around $317 with a market valuation exceeding $3 billion
- Subnet 3 on Bittensor unveiled Covenant-72B, a language model with 72 billion parameters developed across 70+ decentralized nodes
- Covenant-72B achieved a 67.1 score on MMLU benchmarks, comparable to Meta’s Llama 2 70B performance
- Grayscale submitted an amended S-1 filing to the SEC for a Bittensor (TAO) Trust product
- More than 68% of TAO’s 10.7 million circulating tokens remain staked on the network
The TAO token from Bittensor experienced a remarkable price surge throughout March 2026, nearly doubling to reach approximately $317. This impressive rally drove the network’s total market capitalization beyond the $3 billion threshold.
This price movement aligned with a significant technological achievement within the Bittensor network. The team behind Subnet 3 introduced Covenant-72B, an advanced language model featuring 72 billion parameters, trained using more than 70 geographically dispersed nodes.
Covenant-72B achieved a benchmark score of 67.1 on the MMLU evaluation, a widely recognized assessment tool for measuring large language model capabilities. This performance positions it competitively alongside Meta’s Llama 2 70B model.
Industry observers viewed this as the first substantial evidence that decentralized, permissionless artificial intelligence training can deliver results comparable to traditional centralized approaches. Critics had long dismissed distributed training as impractically slow and inefficient.
The primary subnet token associated with this breakthrough, τemplar (SN3), experienced an extraordinary surge of more than 400% over the previous month, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $130 million.
Broader Network Developments Beyond Covenant-72B
Activity extended across the wider Bittensor subnet network. Targon (SN4), a decentralized GPU computing marketplace operated by Manifold Labs, announced a substantial six-figure partnership to support Dippy AI’s infrastructure, which serves a user base of 8.6 million.
The GMCI AI Index, which monitors leading AI-focused cryptocurrency tokens, climbed 48% from early February. Bittensor represents 24.89% of this index’s composition and functioned as the primary catalyst for these gains.
Additional components of the index include Render (RNDR) and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI), with these three assets collectively comprising over 71% of the total index. However, despite recent momentum, the index continues trading 84% below its peak value from Q1 2024.
Grayscale Submits TAO Trust Filing to SEC
On April 3, 2026, Grayscale filed an amended S-1 document with the SEC for a Bittensor (TAO) Trust. This investment vehicle is designed as a passive holding structure for TAO tokens, offering investors exposure to TAO price movements through tradeable trust shares.
Presently, 10.7 million TAO tokens are in active circulation. Over 68% of this available supply remains locked in staking.
The introduction of Covenant-72B and Grayscale’s regulatory filing constitute the two most significant recent catalysts for the TAO token as of April 3, 2026.
