Bittensor’s native token TAO extended a five-day rally to roughly 25%, pushing toward the psychologically important $300 resistance level and reaching its highest price in three months. The AI-focused token climbed 8.33% to $264.83 on Monday, briefly touching $277 intraday after starting the move from about $220 on September 1.
The breakout accelerated after Solana-based decentralized exchange Raydium added TAO trading, connecting Bittensor to a larger DeFi user base. Shortly afterward, the parody meme coin Buttensor launched on the platform. Buttensor’s transaction fees are used to automatically purchase TAO and distribute those tokens to BUTT holders, creating passive buying pressure from meme coin activity. Social dominance for TAO rose from 0.05% to 0.12%, while the release of ChatGPT-6 Astra helped draw additional attention to AI-related tokens.
Futures activity strengthened alongside price. CoinGlass data showed 24-hour futures volume of $868 million, up 158.61%, while open interest reached a three-month high of $434.58 million. The increased leveraged positioning reinforces the bullish trend but also raises liquidation risk if momentum reverses suddenly.
Technically, TAO remains above its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages, clustered between roughly $220 and $236. The MACD is still above its signal line, but the Relative Strength Index has reached 70, placing the token at the edge of overbought territory. A confirmed daily close above $300 could expose $369 as the next target, matching a high from September 13, 2025. Conversely, rejection at $300 could send TAO toward the 200-day EMA near $236, with deeper support around $220–$222.
Bittensor also rolled out several protocol upgrades through August and September. V440 introduced an Emission Gate that ties subnet rewards to a market-determined demand threshold. Follow-up versions V441, V446, V447 and V448 refined root staking, alpha accounting and subnet ownership mechanics, while V450 is moving toward validator-curated root baskets with a 1/16 concentration cap. TAO additionally expanded cross-chain through Chainlink’s interoperability infrastructure, reaching Robinhood Chain.
Analyst CryptoPatel noted TAO is up 89% from the bottom of his accumulation zone and said the original $3,000 long-term target remains valid, with $300–$350 as the next key zone to watch for bullish expansion. The Bittensor Exploit Summit is scheduled for September 28 and 29.
