Podcast Summary
The podcast delves into the evolution of Bittensor, focusing on the development and impact of subnet one. It discusses the decentralization process, the creation of various subnets, and the changes brought about by the Finney release. The podcast also highlights the challenges and future plans for Subnet One, including the need for more explicit incentive mechanisms and the goal of making it the entry point into Bittensor.
Key Takeaways
Decentralization and the Cambrian Explosion of Subnets
- Decentralization of Bittensor: The podcast discusses the decentralization process that allowed anyone to build their own subnet, leading to a Cambrian explosion of ideas and the creation of 50 subnets in less than four months.
- Diverse Landscape of Subnets: The subnets span various utilities such as web scraping, healthcare, advertisement, and artificial intelligence. Notable subnets include MOG’s functional subnet with a front end, Cortex’s multimodal subnet with a developer UI experience, Tshi’s time series prediction subnet, and Falow’s decentralized storage subnet.
Challenges and Redesign of Subnet One
- Redesign of Subnet One: Subnet One, developed by OmniLabs, needed to be redesigned as the incentive mechanism was not sufficient to ensure miners remained useful and did useful work. The subjective measurement of miner performance was not ideal for a trustless, decentralized environment, leading to the need for more explicit incentive mechanisms.
- Goal for Subnet One: The goal for Subnet One is to become the entry point into Bittensor and bridge different subnets to efficiently access the digital utility they create. The reward landscape needs to be adaptable and open-ended, fostering a virtuous cycle of competition and survival to have highly performing miners on the network.
Improving the Developer Experience
- Improving Developer Experience: The OmniLabs has been working on improving the developer experience for building subnets, with members like Watchmaker providing excellent documentation and the Bittensor Core repo being polished and enhanced.
- Subnet Template: The subnet template has been a valuable resource for developers to kickstart their projects quickly and easily, with Philanthrope leading the way in its improvement.
Future Plans and Deployment Strategy
- Deployment Strategy: The deployment of Bittensor will happen in multiple stages, with the creation of databases by subnets being the initial focus. The specifics of how miners will facilitate cross-boundary interactions between subnets are still being developed, with ongoing work on interconnectivity between subnets.
- Future Plans: The team plans to build a user interface for subnet one and recognizes the importance of interfacing with the outside world to provide value to users. The network will incentivize the interconnectivity between subnets, forcing the issue of collaboration and integration.
Sentiment Analysis
- Bullish: The podcast presents a bullish sentiment towards the future of Bittensor. The team’s commitment to improving the developer experience, the ongoing work on interconnectivity between subnets, and the plans to build a user interface for subnet one all indicate optimism about the project’s potential.
- Neutral: While the podcast expresses optimism about the future of Bittensor, it also acknowledges the challenges faced, such as the need for more explicit incentive mechanisms and the redesign of Subnet One. This balanced view suggests a neutral sentiment, recognizing both the potential and the hurdles of the project.
