Bittensor (TAO) jumps 140% in 6 weeks as retail sentiment stays measured

Bittensor (TAO) has risen about 140% over six weeks, extending strength after a 105% move since March 8 and reaching roughly the 26th-largest crypto by market cap. Social activity is near record highs across X, Reddit and Telegram, but TAO sentiment looks unusually balanced (around 1.5 positive comments for every 1 negative), implying retail is not chasing the rally at typical altcoin-frenzy levels. The move is linked to renewed attention on decentralized AI. Bittensor runs a subnet-based AI marketplace where models compete and earn rewards based on performance, making compute and model outputs “tradable” via the TAO token. An analyst also points to ongoing ecosystem progress in Subnet 3 “Templar,” including the completion of Covenant-72B (described as a major decentralized large-language-model pretraining run), supporting the bullish narrative. For traders, the key question is whether TAO can hold above prior breakout resistance and consolidate rather than simply extend vertically. With only about 19% of TAO currently deployed in subnets (with much supply inactive), there is potential upside if on-chain utilization accelerates alongside the hype cycle—though crowd behavior so far suggests less immediate froth.
Bullish
TAO’s strong multi-week uptrend is supported by both narrative catalysts (decentralized AI/subnet marketplace progress such as Covenant-72B on Subnet 3 “Templar”) and continued attention. While sentiment is not showing extreme retail “froth” yet, which can temper immediate blow-off risk, the relatively measured crowd behavior can also mean price may consolidate above key levels rather than reverse sharply. The additional structural point that only ~19% of TAO is currently deployed in subnets suggests upside if on-chain utilization rises, supporting continuation once TAO holds resistance and forms a base. Short-term volatility remains possible after the earlier spike and pullback, but the overall setup favors trend continuation rather than breakdown.