Taoshi (SN8)

Overview

Taoshi is the company behind Vanta Network, a trading-focused subnet on the Bittensor blockchain. Its subnet number is 8, often written SN8. Vanta brings traders and trading software into an open competition: participants submit signals, and the network evaluates how their strategies perform under shared rules. Taoshi calls the subnet’s token Theta; Bittensor also describes it as SN8’s alpha token. (taoshi.io)

A subnet is a specialized network within Bittensor. Vanta’s specialty is testing trading strategies and producing signals that others can use. This gives SN8 two connected roles. It rewards people who contribute useful trading work, and it lets people participate in the economy of that particular subnet. (taoshi.io)

History & Team

Taoshi was founded by Arrash Yasavolian, who serves as its CEO. The company was developing its Bittensor trading network by 2023. Its early work centered on a proprietary trading competition; the network now operates under the Vanta name. Taoshi Inc. is based in California. (taoshi.io)

The project has grown beyond a single trading contest. In 2024, Taoshi announced Glitch Financial, a product built around automated trading strategies. It also developed the Request Network, a marketplace for data and services produced on Bittensor. These products show how Taoshi intends to connect the work done by subnet participants with people who want to use its outputs. (taoshi.io)

Taoshi publishes technical documentation, proposed network changes, and code for its tools. That matters for a competitive network: participants need to understand the rules used to judge their work. The company continues to build the products, while miners and validators carry out the subnet’s trading and evaluation tasks. (docs.taoshi.io)

Technology & How It Works

Miners, signals, and validators

On Vanta, a miner is a trader or trading program that sends signals to the network. A signal tells the system whether the miner wants a long position, a short position, or a flat position in a supported market. Long and short express opposite views about where an asset may move; flat closes a position. The network supports signals across markets including cryptocurrency and foreign exchange. Traders may use their own judgment, algorithms, or machine-learning systems to produce them. (docs.taoshi.io)

Validators receive those signals and keep a record of each miner’s simulated portfolio. They track positions using market prices, apply the trading rules, and assess results. Because every miner is tested within a defined framework, Vanta can compare different approaches without asking everyone to use the same strategy. Validators also check for copied signals and set the weights that help determine participant rewards. (docs.taoshi.io)

Measuring useful performance

A strategy’s return is only part of its score. Vanta also measures drawdown—how far a portfolio has fallen from a previous high—and uses measures such as Sharpe, Sortino, and Omega ratios to assess the pattern of returns. Its scoring system accounts for modeled trading costs, including slippage and the cost of keeping positions open. These rules aim to reward results that hold up under more realistic conditions, rather than a short run of gains alone. (docs.taoshi.io)

The subnet uses a debt-based payout system. It records a miner’s past performance and penalties, compares the reward due with rewards already received, and assigns weights toward the remaining amount. New miners enter a challenge period before joining the main competition. The rules also limit position sizes and remove miners who cross the stated drawdown threshold. (docs.taoshi.io)

Tokenomics & Utility

Theta within Bittensor

Theta is Vanta’s subnet-specific alpha token. TAO is the native token of the wider Bittensor blockchain; the two have different jobs. Bittensor’s dynamic TAO system gives each subnet its own alpha token and a pool where TAO can be exchanged for it. Each alpha token has a protocol cap of 21 million units, with new tokens issued over time under Bittensor’s emission rules. (taoshi.io)

Bittensor’s standard subnet emission split assigns about 41% to miners, 41% to validators and their stakers, and 18% to the subnet owner. Within Vanta, miner scoring determines how its miner rewards are assigned. The network’s design also directs some unused miner rewards to a burn address. These are features of its incentive system, rather than a fixed reward for every token holder. (bittensor.com)

Theta also has a role inside the trading network. Taoshi’s collateral system lets miners lock tokens to gain access to simulated trading capacity. In that model, the amount deposited helps determine the size of the simulated account a miner can use. Taoshi’s token materials also describe ways that income from related products may be used to acquire Theta for ecosystem purposes. That links the token’s intended use to participation in Vanta, as well as to Bittensor’s wider staking system. (docs.taoshi.io)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

From competition to usable signals

Vanta’s first use case is strategy evaluation. A trader can submit signals, build a performance record, and compete for subnet rewards. Researchers can study how different approaches behave under the same scoring rules. This makes the network useful as a testing ground for human traders and automated systems alike. (docs.taoshi.io)

A second use case is signal distribution. Taoshi’s Request Network offers outputs from Vanta to buyers who want trading information. The marketplace lets customers select signals by miner and market rather than treating every network result as one combined product. Taoshi also describes Glitch Financial as a way to turn selected strategies into automated tools. These connections give the subnet a path from open competition to services used outside the competition itself. (taoshi.io)

Taoshi has developed Horizon, a tool that connects exchange orders with Vanta miners and provides a web interface for monitoring them. It is one example of the supporting software needed to make a decentralized trading network practical for participants with different workflows. (docs.taoshi.io)

Advantages & Challenges

Vanta’s clearest strength is its open, shared method for comparing traders. Published rules explain how signals are submitted, how simulated portfolios are measured, and how performance affects rewards. Supporting both manual and automated signals gives contributors room to develop different styles. Its connection to the Request Network also gives useful signals a possible audience beyond other subnet participants. (taoshi.io)

The same design creates challenges. A score must turn many different trading styles into results that can be compared fairly. Validators need consistent records, suitable market data, and effective checks for copied work. Miners must learn rules for registration, the challenge period, collateral, and position limits. Taoshi’s documentation records ongoing changes to scoring and network tools, reflecting the work involved in maintaining that system. (docs.taoshi.io)

Where to Buy & Wallets

SN8 is available on Kraken. It can also be acquired by exchanging TAO for subnet 8’s alpha token through Bittensor’s on-chain subnet pool. Kraken announced SN8 trading in July 2026; its availability may vary by location. On Bittensor, the exchange takes place through a connected wallet rather than a conventional exchange order book. (blog.kraken.com)

Bittensor lists wallet options including TAO.com Wallet, Crucible Wallet, Talisman Wallet, Subwallet, and its command-line wallet. Wallet features differ: some focus on transfers, while others provide interfaces for subnet staking and token exchanges. Taoshi’s Theta materials describe acquiring the token by swapping TAO through Bittensor’s dynamic TAO system. (bittensor.com)

Regulatory & Compliance

Taoshi Inc. is based in the United States, but rules for the token and its related trading services depend on the activity and jurisdiction involved. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission explains that the way a crypto asset is offered and sold can matter when applying securities law. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework sets requirements for firms providing covered crypto-asset services. These frameworks address different parts of an ecosystem that includes token exchange, trading signals, and software services. (taoshi.io)

SN8’s halal or Shariah-compliance status has not been established through a project-specific ruling. Islamic finance assessments examine the terms and activities involved, including interest (riba), excessive uncertainty (gharar), and gambling-like transactions (maysir). Vanta’s documented strategy framework includes long and short signals, leverage, and modeled carrying costs. An assessment would therefore need to consider both Theta’s token functions and the particular trading arrangements connected to it. (ifsb.org)

Future Outlook

Taoshi’s stated direction is to connect more of Vanta’s trading competition with products that can use its signals. Its development plans have addressed wider market support, more order types, and ways for larger groups of traders to participate. The lasting question for the project is whether its scoring system keeps producing useful signals as participation and product use grow. For Theta, that would make the token’s practical roles—subnet rewards, staking, and miner collateral—central to its place in the ecosystem. (docs.taoshi.io)

Summary

Taoshi’s SN8 brings a trading-strategy competition to Bittensor. Miners contribute signals, validators measure their results, and Theta supports the subnet’s rewards and participation model. Through Vanta, the Request Network, and related trading tools, Taoshi is building a link between decentralized competition and usable financial-market signals. (taoshi.io)