Hippius (SN75)

Overview

Hippius (SN75) is a decentralized cloud platform focused on storage and related compute services. It pairs a custom blockchain with two storage options—IPFS pinning for content-addressed, permanent data and S3‑compatible object storage for fast, familiar access. Hippius runs as a subnet within the Bittensor ecosystem, so it inherits Bittensor’s incentive model while adding its own chain-level accounting for service usage and payments. In short, it is an on-chain marketplace where independent hardware providers supply storage, validators secure the network, and users pay for what they actually use. (hippius.com)

The project positions storage as a first‑class citizen in decentralized AI infrastructure. By operating as a Bittensor subnet, Hippius uses the “alpha” token model introduced by Bittensor’s Dynamic TAO upgrade, giving SN75 a clear role in staking, rewards, and subnet economics. At the same time, Hippius exposes a practical console and desktop app so businesses and developers can upload files, track them by content ID (CID), and manage balances without wrestling with low‑level crypto tooling. (docs.bittensor.com)

History & Team

Hippius emerged in 2025 alongside a broader wave of Bittensor subnets that launched after the network’s Dynamic TAO changes. Those changes created a standard pattern: each subnet issues its own “alpha” token and runs a local market where TAO and that alpha token clear through an automated market maker (AMM). Hippius adopted that pattern as Subnet 75, combining it with a purpose‑built chain for storage and a public-facing product experience. (greythorn.com)

As of today, the public site and documentation do not list individual founders. The open-source code and deployment tools are published under the GitHub organization “thenervelab,” including a repository named “thebrain” that describes Hippius as a decentralized infrastructure subnet and an Ansible playbook for validator deployments. This signals an engineering-led effort with a focus on open tooling and reproducible node setups, even if the team prefers a low profile. (github.com)

Because Hippius integrates deeply with Bittensor, its growth has tracked network-level milestones. A notable development in mid‑2025 was broader interoperability for Bittensor’s alpha tokens: community bridges made it possible to move subnet tokens to Base and Solana, which in turn opened access to popular DeFi venues. That momentum helped subnet projects like Hippius reach more users and liquidity without changing their core designs. (todayscrypto.news)

Technology & How It Works

Chain architecture and consensus

Hippius is built with Substrate, the modular blockchain framework from Parity Technologies. Substrate lets Hippius plug together battle‑tested modules (pallets) for staking, accounts, and governance and upgrade these components without forks. For block production, Hippius uses BABE (Blind Assignment for Blockchain Extension), a slot‑based protocol designed for predictable throughput. Network security relies on Nominated Proof‑of‑Stake (NPoS), where validators stake to participate in consensus and nominators back trusted validators. (docs.hippius.com)

Storage layers: IPFS and S3 compatibility

Hippius supports two complementary storage modes:

• IPFS pinning: data is content‑addressed and pinned across multiple independent miners so the same content hash always resolves to the same file. Hippius’ chain records pinning and persistence. (docs.hippius.com)
• S3‑compatible object storage: a familiar API surface (buckets, objects, multi‑part uploads) for fast access and easy integration with existing tools and SDKs. Under the hood, data is still distributed across a decentralized network of providers. (docs.hippius.com)

On the client side, the Hippius desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux) provides file sync, a CID tracker that shows where content shards live, and an integrated wallet to send/receive balances and review transaction history. This lowers the barrier for teams who prefer an app experience over command‑line tools. (hippius.com)

Data handling and resilience

To balance performance with decentralization, Hippius uses erasure coding. Files are split into chunks and spread across different miners; any sufficient subset of those chunks can reconstruct the full file. Users can paste a CID into the tracker to see hosting history and placement details, offering visibility along with redundancy. (docs.hippius.com)

Roles: miners, validators, and users

Miners provide capacity and uptime. Hippius currently distinguishes between miners who offer IPFS pinning and miners who provide S3-style object storage. Validators run the chain, evaluate performance, and participate in consensus. Users consume storage and related services through the web console or desktop app and pay per unit of usage. The network’s economics tie these groups together: fees from usage and token emissions flow to miners, validators, and stakers according to the project’s distribution rules. (hippius.com)

Bittensor integration

As a Bittensor subnet, Hippius participates in Bittensor’s staking and emission system. Each subnet has an “alpha” token that trades against TAO via a per‑subnet AMM. When participants stake into Hippius validators, they hold SN75 (the subnet alpha), and their share of subnet emissions depends on that stake. This model allows Hippius to run its own market for attention and rewards while remaining part of the larger network economy. (docs.learnbittensor.org)

Tokenomics & Utility

What SN75 represents

SN75 is the alpha token for Hippius (Subnet 75). In Bittensor’s Dynamic TAO design, each active subnet issues its own alpha so that rewards, staking, and governance can be localized to the work that subnet performs. For Hippius, that work centers on storage delivery and chain security. Stakers acquire SN75 when they stake into Hippius; validators’ voting power and reward share are linked to alpha stake within the subnet. (greythorn.com)

Supply and emissions

Bittensor’s documentation describes a standardized emission model for alpha tokens with a halving schedule and per‑block injections of both TAO and alpha into each subnet’s liquidity reserves. At a high level, the network continuously injects liquidity and allocates new alpha to be extracted by participants (miners, validators, and stakers) according to relative stake and performance. Hippius follows this shared framework. Public materials also reference a maximum alpha supply of 21 million within the emission schedule. (docs.bittensor.com)

Marketplace revenue sharing

Beyond emissions, Hippius allocates real usage revenue. Documentation outlines a split of marketplace revenue across the ecosystem: a majority share to miners who provide storage and compute, a significant portion to validators and stakers who keep the chain secure, and a smaller slice to the treasury to fund ongoing development and growth. This coupling of token rewards with cash‑flow from services aims to align incentives around reliable delivery. (docs.hippius.com)

Utility in practice

• Staking and security: Holding and staking SN75 increases a validator’s weight and share of subnet rewards.
• Incentives for providers: Miners earn token rewards based on benchmarks and service delivery recorded on-chain.
• Payment rails: The end‑user console supports paying with fiat or through the Bittensor network. Internally, the platform mints credits (1 credit = $1) on its own blockchain for transparent billing, while alpha staking and rewards remain the backbone of subnet economics. (hippius.com)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Hippius focuses on practical storage tasks with on‑chain accountability. Common use cases include:

• Archiving datasets for AI/ML teams that want content‑addressed provenance and verifiable persistence. IPFS pinning with triple redundancy and chain‑logged events helps teams trust what they retrieve. (docs.hippius.com)
• Hosting static websites, media, and application assets, using the S3‑compatible API to integrate with existing build pipelines and client libraries. (docs.hippius.com)
• Enterprise file storage where teams need predictable access paths and familiar tooling but prefer distributed capacity and transparent billing. The console and desktop app ease adoption for non‑crypto users. (hippius.com)

As part of Bittensor, Hippius can also benefit from broader interoperability. Bridges introduced in 2025 made subnet alpha tokens accessible on Base and Solana, which expands potential integrations, liquidity management, and payment flows for subnet economies. (todayscrypto.news)

Advantages & Challenges

Hippius’ main strengths come from combining familiar developer ergonomics with a decentralized backbone:

• Transparent accounting: service usage and payments are logged on-chain, making billing auditable by design. (hippius.com)
• Dual storage model: both IPFS pinning and S3‑compatible storage are supported, meeting different performance and integration needs. (hippius.com)
• Elastic capacity: a global network of miners reduces single points of failure and scales as more providers join. (hippius.com)
• Economic alignment: token emissions and marketplace revenue share reward the actors who deliver uptime and reliability. (docs.hippius.com)

At the same time, Hippius is a young network with moving parts. Subnet alpha tokens are a newer model within Bittensor, and best practices around liquidity, bridging, and cross‑ecosystem integrations are still evolving. Operationally, decentralized storage always requires careful coordination around redundancy, availability, and retrieval latencies—areas where Hippius’ erasure coding and miner benchmarks are designed to help. (greythorn.com)

Where to Buy & Wallets

SN75 is available on decentralized exchanges in the Bittensor ecosystem. Hippius can be purchased on the Subnet Tokens DEX, where trading typically occurs against TAO or Subnet Zero’s token. (coingecko.com)

SN75 can also be accessed cross‑chain. Through community bridges launched in 2025, subnet alpha tokens—including SN75—can move to Base and Solana, enabling trading on those networks’ native venues. On Solana, liquidity is commonly routed to Raydium; on Base, TaoFi provides an on‑ramp experience. (todayscrypto.news)

For self‑custody, the Hippius desktop app includes a built‑in wallet to send and receive balances, view transaction history, stake hAlpha, and bridge between alpha and TAO from within the app. The same app is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. (docs.hippius.com)

Regulatory & Compliance

Hippius functions as a utility-style subnet token within the Bittensor framework. It is not described in official materials as a regulated financial product, and there is no public indication of specific regulatory approvals for SN75 in major jurisdictions. In practice, use of Hippius products can involve both crypto payments and conventional card payments through the console; the latter reflects a product focus on accessible billing rather than a change in the token’s legal character. As with many decentralized networks, how a token is categorized can vary by country and may evolve as rules for digital assets develop. (hippius.com)

From the perspective of Islamic finance, Hippius is not considered shariah compliant because there is no official certification or audit asserting compliance, and its incentive model relies on staking and variable token emissions. Those mechanisms, together with speculative secondary‑market trading of alpha tokens, generally do not align with common interpretations of Islamic finance principles unless a qualified scholar reviews and certifies the structure. The project’s materials do not claim such a certification. (hippius.com)

Future Outlook

Hippius’ roadmap points toward a fuller cloud stack: storage first, then broader compute and app hosting that use the same on‑chain accounting and subnet incentives. The dual focus on developer ergonomics (S3‑compatible APIs, desktop sync, straightforward console) and decentralized sourcing (independent miners, chain‑logged service delivery) makes the design approachable for teams that want the benefits of web3 infrastructure without abandoning familiar workflows. (hippius.com)

On the network side, Bittensor’s evolution will likely continue to shape Hippius. The alpha/TAO AMM design encourages each subnet to build its own economy; added bridges to Base and Solana broaden that economy’s reach. If Hippius attracts more miners and steady storage demand, the project’s revenue‑sharing model could further tighten the link between real usage and token incentives. The open‑source repos and validator tooling suggest that the team aims to keep onboarding operators simple, which is often a key ingredient for scaling supply across regions. (todayscrypto.news)

Summary

Hippius (SN75) is a Bittensor subnet dedicated to decentralized cloud storage. It combines a Substrate blockchain, BABE consensus, and NPoS security with two storage options—IPFS pinning and S3‑compatible object storage—wrapped in a console and desktop app that ordinary teams can use. SN75 serves as the subnet’s alpha token for staking and rewards, while service fees and emissions are distributed to miners, validators, and stakers under a clear revenue model. With emerging bridges to Base and Solana and an expanding toolset for providers and users, Hippius stands out as a practical, infrastructure‑first project in the decentralized AI and storage space. (docs.hippius.com)