Bittensor $TAO Spotlight Series - Project Rubicon Subnet Liquid Staking Infrastructure for the TAO Ecosystem base build by @gtaoventures in collaboration with @base and @chainlink 1. What Project Rubicon is a cross-chain liquid staking infrastructure designed for the Bittensor ecosystem. It allows users to stake native subnet Alpha tokens, while simultaneously unlocking liquidity via issuance of xAlpha on EVM, starting with Base. The goal: become the liquid-staking layer for $TAO and subnet tokens. This creates an avenue for subnet owners to tap into real liquidity. 2. Core Mechanics Its very straight forward really: Users deposit Alpha into pooled smart contracts; deposits are batched and routed to validators. In return, users receive xAlpha (xSN44) in a 1:1 ratio initially. These xAlpha tokens accrue staking rewards passively, as validators earn. Incentive alignment: staking becomes liquid, composable, and usable across DeFi protocols. It basically takes the Alpha tokens to where the liquidity is. Support for $TAO staking, $xTAO, is planned, extending the model further. 3. Tokenomics & Utility Lock Alpha → receive xAlpha tokens which appreciate over time via staking yield (rebase-style mechanism). xAlpha can be: 🔸Traded on @base 🔸Used as collateral 🔸Part of yield-bearing DeFi positions 🔸Fee mechanics (deposit/withdrawal/protocol tax) 4. Why The biggest problem for Alpha tokens right now is that they are hard to reach. All the extra functionalities of a liquid staking token are nice but the main win for me is that it bridges the $TAO ecosystem to broader multi-chain DeFi flows via xAlpha liquidity. We as a $TAO community need this. Initial subnets: Affine (Subnet 120) @affine_io PTN (Subnet 8) built by @taoshiio Targon (Subnet 4) @TargonCompute Macrocosmos' iota (Subnet 9) @MacrocosmosAI Ridges (Subnet 62) @ridges_ai Cartha (Subnet 35) @0x_Markets Bitmind (Subnet 34) @BitMindAI Score (Subnet 44) @webuildscore 404-Gen (Subnet 17) @404gen_ Chutes (Subnet 64) @chutes_ai Gradients (Subnet 56) @useGradient Lium (Subnet 51) @lium_io Synth (Subnet 50) @SynthdataCo Sportstensor (Subnet 41) @sportstensor Resi (Subnet 46) @resilabsai TAO Private Network (Subnet 65) @SN65_TPN Leadpoet (Subnet 71) @LeadpoetAI Open the gates.