{"id":71033,"date":"2026-04-12T20:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/bittensor-co-founder-jacob-steeves-slams-samuel-dare-for-deep-betrayal-after-tao-price-collapse-markets-and-prices-bitcoin-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T20:23:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:23:53","slug":"bittensor-co-founder-jacob-steeves-slams-samuel-dare-for-deep-betrayal-after-tao-price-collapse-markets-and-prices-bitcoin-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/bittensor-co-founder-jacob-steeves-slams-samuel-dare-for-deep-betrayal-after-tao-price-collapse-markets-and-prices-bitcoin-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Bittensor Co-Founder Jacob Steeves Slams Samuel Dare for \u2018Deep Betrayal\u2019 After TAO Price Collapse \u2013 Markets and Prices Bitcoin News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jacob Steeves accused Samuel Dare of betrayal after Covenant AI exited, sparking a 25% crash in TAO price.<\/li>\n<li>The fallout erased $650 million in <span>market cap<\/span> and triggered $9.1 million in long liquidations on April 10.<\/li>\n<li>Bittensor will propose a \u201cLocked <span>Stake<\/span>\u201d feature during the next Discord community call.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Betrayal Allegations<\/h2>\n<p>Following a tumultuous week that saw the TAO token plummet 25%, Bittensor co-founder Jacob Steeves\u2014known as \u201cConst\u201d\u2014has broken his silence regarding the departure of Samuel Dare and Covenant AI. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/const_reborn\/status\/2043083033969033610\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deeply personal statement<\/a>, Steeves addressed allegations of centralization and outlined a technical roadmap intended to prevent similar \u201cfinancial rugs\u201d in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Steeves did not mince words regarding the emotional impact of the split, describing Dare as someone he \u201cconsidered a brother.\u201d He accused Dare of taking actions designed to inflict \u201cmaximum pain\u201d on the protocol and its community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe let everyone down who bought his token and who trusted in him,\u201d Steeves stated. \u201cHe betrayed us all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/tao-plummets-25-as-bittensor-co-founder-accused-of-using-token-sales-to-coerce-compliance\/\">reported<\/a> by <span>Bitcoin.com<\/span> News, Bittensor\u2019s utility token, TAO, tumbled from $337 to $253 in under six hours on Friday, April 10. The token\u2019s attempted rebound Sunday briefly saw it reach nearly $280 before it gradually pared those gains to settle just above $260. In a post on X explaining the circumstances that prompted his team to leave, Dare suggested that TAO\u2019s decline in the days leading up to the fallout was due to <span>token sales<\/span> by Steeves.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/markets.bitcoin.com\/crypto\/bittensor\/embed\" width=\"100%\" style=\"max-height:500px;height:500px;border:none;overflow:hidden;border-radius:4px\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"bittensor market data\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>However, addressing users who suffered losses during the price crash, Steeves offered an apology to users who felt a \u201cfinancial rug\u201d was pulled out from under them. While he dismissed Dare\u2019s accusations of centralization as \u201cunfounded\u201d\u2014suggesting his former colleague may be experiencing a personal crisis\u2014he acknowledged that the incident highlighted a \u201cgenuine threat\u201d to the network\u2019s stability.<\/p>\n<h2>The \u2018Locked <span>Stake<\/span>\u2019 Proposal<\/h2>\n<p>Steeves argued that the incident proves <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/bittensor-training-milestone-draws-spotlight-from-chamath-palihapitiya-and-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang\/\">human-led governance<\/a> is inherently flawed, citing \u201cgreed and selfishness\u201d as the pitfalls Bittensor was designed to resist. To move forward, he proposed a shift from legal accountability to cryptographic accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The centerpiece of this recovery plan is a new protocol-level feature: locked <span>stake<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe solution comes from the need to introduce a new aspect of ownership: commitment,\u201d Steeves explained. \u201cIt is measured as the time remaining before tokens can move; time plus <span>stake<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposed locked <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-staking\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stake<\/a>, subnet owners will be able to lock their tokens for a defined period to demonstrate long-term commitment. This transparency, Steeves argues, is designed to provide assurances against sudden exits or \u201cdumping\u201d by founders. By moving from branding to \u201cpure mathematical rules,\u201d the protocol aims to protect the ecosystem from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-volatility\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">volatile<\/a> nature of human decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the specific subnets left in limbo by Covenant AI\u2019s departure, Steeves confirmed that the community is already moving to reorganize. Because Bittensor is built on open-source code, miners and the remaining team members are expected to revive the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFunctionally, these subnets should not change,\u201d he noted, emphasizing that a single individual never owned the vision for these tools.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the market <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-volatility\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">volatility<\/a>, Steeves doubled down on Bittensor\u2019s mission, claiming it remains \u201cby far the most decentralized AI protocol in existence.\u201d He framed the current crisis as a necessary evolution for a protocol designed to be permissionless and resistant to the darker qualities of human nature.<\/p>\n<p>Steeves is expected to present the formal designs for the locked <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-staking\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stake<\/a> feature during an open call in the Bittensor Discord next Thursday, where he will take questions from the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/bittensor-co-founder-jacob-steeves-slams-samuel-dare-for-deep-betrayal-after-tao-price-collapse\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways: Jacob Steeves accused Samuel Dare of betrayal after Covenant AI exited, sparking a 25% crash in TAO price. The fallout erased $650 million in market cap and triggered $9.1 million in long liquidations on April 10. Bittensor will propose a \u201cLocked Stake\u201d feature during the next [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":71034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71033"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}