Bittensor Co-Founder Denies Claims He Halted Subnet Rewards as Ecosystem Turmoil Continues

Bittensor, a decentralized network focused on artificial intelligence, continues to face fallout over a developer exit and a dispute over operating control. The project’s co-founder has flatly denied allegations related to subnet rewards.

The Block reported on July 10 that Bittensor co-founder Jacob Steeves wrote on X that claims he had arbitrarily suspended subnet rewards were false. He added that he has no authority to halt rewards and holds the same rights as ordinary token holders.

The dispute over Bittensor’s reward system intensified after Covenant AI, a key developer in the ecosystem, said it would leave the project. Sam Daire, founder of Covenant AI, had earlier alleged that Steeves pressured the group by halting rewards, limiting community management authority, scaling back infrastructure and selling tokens. He also described Bittensor’s governance as “decentralization theater.”

Steeves said he did sell part of his holdings, but that the amount was less than 1% of his total investment. He added that the transactions only affected rewards naturally because of the system’s structure.

His explanation appears to have done little to ease distrust in the community. As of 10:20 p.m. in South Korea, Bittensor was trading at $264.80, down 19.49% from a day earlier, according to CoinMarketCap.