02 / 05
The Opportunity
$840 Billion vs. $1.9 Billion.
Same Market. One Is Private. One Is Investable.
Same Market. One Is Private. One Is Investable.
OpenAI is valued at $840B — but private and closed. The Bittensor Network does the same thing, decentralized, open and permissionless — valued at $1.9B.
O
OpenAI
Who builds the AI?One company
Who controls it?Sam Altman
Publicly investable?No — private only
Valuation$840 Billion
SupplyUnlimited equity dilution
VS
τ
Bittensor
Who builds the AI?Thousands worldwide
Who controls it?Nobody — open protocol
Publicly investable?Yes
Valuation~$1.9 Billion
SupplyHard-capped at 21M
Think of it like the Gutenberg moment for Intelligence
Before the Printing Press
The Church controlled the flow of information — and therefore intelligence.
Knowledge was closed, permissioned, and gatekept by a single institution. Today, OpenAI & Co. play the same role for Intelligence.
VS
After the Printing Press
Gutenberg democratized information — and it became open and permissionless.
Bittensor does the same for Intelligence. An open network where anyone can contribute intelligence — and the best wins.
03 / 05
Investment Thesis
The Market Missed Bitcoin at $1. It Missed OpenAI at $14B.
This Is That Moment Again — at $1.9B.
This Is That Moment Again — at $1.9B.
Centralized AI Performance vs. Decentralized AI Performance
Centralized AI (4x p.a.)
Decentralized AI (20x p.a.)
Source: Epoch AI, “Decentralized Training” (2025) — Jack Clark, Anthropic co-founder.
The Window
Performance Parity by ~2030
At 20x vs 4x annual growth, the 1000x gap closes in ~5 years.
Efficiency Gain
1.5x More Efficient
Decentralized training achieves 1.5x efficiency over isolated data centers.
2026 — Inflection Point
Critical Mass Reached
Decentralized compute power crosses the threshold where network effects become exponential.
Open-Source Always Wins
Open systems always win to closed ones. Every time.
Internet > CompuServe. Linux > Windows Server. Android > BlackBerry. Wikipedia > Britannica.
04 / 05
Scenario Analysis — 2031
What Could $1.9 Billion Become?
Four scenarios based on adoption trajectory.
For reference: OpenAI returned 60x in five years. Anthropic returned 380x in four.
For reference: OpenAI returned 60x in five years. Anthropic returned 380x in four.
Bear Case
Niche Project
$1B
~0.5x from today
Bittensor remains a niche project driven by tech enthusiasts and never achieves mainstream adoption. Limited commercial traction, no institutional interest.
Probability: ~10%
Base Case
AI Infrastructure Standard
$30B
~15x from today
Bittensor establishes itself as the go-to decentralized AI layer. Enterprise adoption accelerates, subnet revenue grows exponentially.
Probability: ~35%
Bull Case
Decentralized Anthropic
$200B
~100x from today
Bittensor reaches a scale comparable to today’s Anthropic ($380B). Institutional capital flows in via ETFs, hundreds of high-revenue subnets drive massive TAO demand.
Probability: ~30%
Super Bull Case
The Decentralized OpenAI
$500B+
~250x from today
TAO becomes the reserve asset for decentralized intelligence — the “Bitcoin of AI.” Bittensor rivals OpenAI’s scale ($840B) as the global open-source alternative.
Probability: ~10%
05 / 05
Fund Terms & Team
The Partner for the AI Infrastructure Decade.
Johannes de Waal
General Partner
Investor since 2015 with deep understanding of game theory, decentralized systems & cryptographic networks. Transitioned from private investor to Solo GP in 2025. Strong network of researchers & engineers providing direct ecosystem access.
To be announced
Senior Software Engineer & Advisor
Fr. Senior Software Engineer @ Greenfield Capital, Europe’s largest Crypto VC | Fr. Senior Software Engineer @ Coinbase | M.Sc. Computer Science
To Be Announced