Ctrl K

Level 1How Bittensor works10 lessons
Subnets, the people in them, and the chain that pays them.
Level 2Your wallet9 lessons
The keys that own your TAO, and how to keep them safe.
Level 3Staking8 lessons
Backing a validator with your TAO, and what it earns.
Level 4Subnets5 lessons
Who runs a subnet, who joins it, and how ownership can change.
Level 5Emissions7 lessons
Where new tokens come from, and who receives them.
Level 6Subnet lifecycle4 lessons
How subnets start, how they end, and what it means for the people holding their alpha.
Level 7Root4 lessons
How staking on root earns, since Root Reborn.
Level 8How rewards are decided5 lessons
How validators' scores turn into payments.
Level 9Validators5 lessons
What validators do, how they qualify, and what to look at when choosing one to stake with.

Alpha: each subnet's own token

Besides TAO, every subnet has its own token, called alpha.

Each subnet has a pool that holds both TAO and that subnet's alpha. The pool sets the price between them. When more people want a subnet's alpha, its price in TAO goes up, and when fewer do, it goes down.

Alpha from one subnet is not the same as alpha from another. Each subnet's alpha has its own price, set by its own pool.

When you stake TAO into a subnet, it is swapped for that subnet's alpha at the pool's price. When you unstake, the alpha is swapped back into TAO. This is why the value of your stake can go up or down with the subnet.