Grayscale Investments has filed with the SEC to convert its Bittensor Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), aiming to launch the first U.S.-listed product linked to the TAO token. The filing, submitted on December 30, 2025, follows the asset manager's earlier strategies with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and has acted as a key catalyst for TAO's recent price surge.
On January 2, 2026, TAO's price climbed 9.55% to trade near $242, accompanied by a 42% jump in trading volume to $89.87 million. Technical analysis indicates the altcoin has broken out of a prolonged consolidation phase after successfully retesting a key support level at $207. If TAO can maintain a daily close above $235, analysts project an additional 18% upside move toward the $285 resistance level.
Derivatives data reinforces the bullish sentiment, showing traders are heavily betting on long-leveraged positions. At key levels of $221.7 and $250.2, there is $4.65 million in long leverage compared to just $1.73 million in short positions.
Beyond short-term technicals, a broader narrative is building around TAO's long-term valuation. Prominent analyst CryptoVN ττ argues that a $1,000 price target for TAO might be considered "cheap" given the project's fundamental positioning. He frames Bittensor not as a single application but as a decentralized marketplace for artificial intelligence, comprising 128 competitive subnets. Holding TAO, therefore, represents exposure to an entire network of specialized AI models.
CryptoVN ττ draws parallels to early Bitcoin and Ethereum, suggesting TAO is in a phase where its market value lags behind its potential utility. He emphasizes that the token's scarcity dynamics, its required role for network participation (staking for subnet access), and the trillion-dollar addressable market for AI support a thesis where a $1,000 price is merely a starting milestone.
