Overview
- The TAO token rose roughly 25% over a five‑day stretch to touch about $277, and it is trading in the mid‑$260s after that run.
- Raydium went live with TAO trading and opened access to Solana’s retail and memecoin launch ecosystem, increasing spot buy volume and market cap above $3 billion.
- A newly launched memecoin called Buttensor on Raydium automatically converts a portion of transaction fees into TAO buys, creating mechanical spot demand tied to meme trading activity.
- Futures activity spiked alongside the rally, with open interest reported between about $428 million and $434 million and 24‑hour volumes jumping more than 150%, which raises the risk of fast liquidations if price reverses.
- Bittensor’s V440–V450 protocol updates changed emissions, staking and validator rules to tie rewards to demand, and scheduled ecosystem events later in September could test whether the current retail‑driven momentum is sustainable.