TAO crash 27% after Covenant AI comot from Bittensor over governance gbege
Bittensor ecosystem shak for Apr 10, 2026 when Covenant AI — the team wey build Covenant-72B model and one of the network biggest subnets — announce say dem go dash comot from Bittensor. The gist make heavy sell-off for TAO: token fall about 27% inside like two hours (from around $338 to low near $285), den small bounce back to about $294, CoinGlass talk say about $11M long position liquidations happen.
The palava dey around accusation of centralized control vs Bittensor "decentralisation" story. Covenant AI founder Sam Dare accuse Bittensor co-founder Jacob Steeves ("Const") say e get one-side power, include claim say e fit suspend subnet emissions, revoke moderation/community rights, and use token-sale pressure make dem comply. Steeves deny the claims, talk say he no fit suspend emissions or deprecate Covenant channels and moderation rights.
Traders still dey look exit liquidity. Later report talk say Dare fit don sell/liquidate about 37,000 TAO across different subnets before public exit, wey add to sell-side pressure (and fit cause wahala for downstream users wey get TAO locked for Grail, Basilica, and Templar subnets).
As response, Bittensor propose "lock-based subnet ownership" framework to link subnet valuation with longer-term developer commitment and give earlier notice about unlocks. For TAO traders, short-term focus be whether governance reforms fit reduce future sell-off risk and whether liquidity/narrative catalysts (including possible ETF news) fit offset ongoing governance-driven volatility for TAO.
Bearish
Di exit of one big Bittensor subnet (Covenant AI) plus wahala dem dey talk say governance control dey cause immediate risk-off reaction for TAO, wey show as about ~27% drop and heavy long liquidations. The later report wey talk about potential “exit liquidity” (dem report say ~37,000 TAO sell across subnets) mean say extra sell pressure dey besides the initial headline. Even though Bittensor proposed lock-based ownership framework fit reduce future uncertainty, e no remove near-term execution and trust risks. Overall, this event likely go keep TAO sensitive to headlines and volatile, wey go weigh down price for short run.