Grayscale Investments has taken a significant step toward expanding its suite of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds by filing for a spot ETF for Bittensor (TAO). On December 30, 2025, the digital asset investment firm submitted an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its existing Grayscale Bittensor Trust into the Grayscale Bittensor Trust ETF.
The proposed ETF would trade on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker symbol GTAO. This filing marks the first attempt to launch a U.S. spot ETF offering direct exposure to TAO, the native token of the decentralized, AI-focused Bittensor network. The move follows Grayscale's broader strategy of transitioning its single-asset trusts into exchange-traded products, as seen with its recent launch of a Chainlink ETF.
Custodians for the fund would be Coinbase Custody Trust Company LLC and BitGo Trust Company, Inc., according to the filing. Notably, the S-1 includes language indicating the trust may participate in staking its TAO holdings to earn additional rewards, subject to operational feasibility and regulatory approval. This signals Grayscale's interest in exploring yield-generating mechanisms within an ETF structure.
The filing comes just weeks after Bittensor's network underwent its first-ever halving event in mid-December 2025, a mechanism that reduced the rate at which new TAO tokens are created. Following the halving, the price of TAO experienced a dip but has since stabilized around $222. The Grayscale Bittensor Trust itself had been private since 2024 but became more accessible to a broader set of investors via public quotation on the OTCQX market under the symbol GTAO earlier in December 2025.
A Grayscale spokesperson stated, "We’re pleased to take this early step as we continue to expand the tools available to investors and further develop Grayscale’s product platform to meet the growing investor demand for digital asset exposure." The filing reflects Grayscale's push beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into more specialized digital assets and indicates growing issuer confidence in the U.S. regulatory landscape for a broader range of crypto products.
