Decentralized Governance

Bittensor operates a fully on-chain DAO that governs the evolution of the network. Any wallet that locks the required proposal bond—a modest amount of $TAO, determined by community vote—can introduce a motion to change or upgrade the protocol. Proposals are then subject to a decentralized voting process: one token equals one vote, executed through Bittensor’s on-chain democracy and senate governance modules.

Once a proposal is approved by the token holders, it enters a final review stage where top-performing validators assess it for technical soundness and alignment with network goals. After this review, the proposal is executed automatically after a predefined delay, ensuring transparency and time for community oversight.

This governance framework controls critical aspects of the protocol, including:

• Network upgrade procedures

• Emission and reward schedules

• Subnet registration and policy rules

• Economic incentives and bonding requirements

The integration of the Exion Protocol further extends this governance model by enabling $EXION holders to propose and vote on Exion-specific improvements—such as AI agent behavior, privacy defaults, encryption standards, and reward distribution mechanics—across its decentralized AI infrastructure.

Together, $TAO and $EXION governance ensures that both the foundational network and its application layers remain open, community-driven, and adaptable as AI and blockchain ecosystems evolve.