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Messari's protocol reports give you a deep dive on the foundation and state of top crypto protocols, including key metrics and notable events. See the complete list of protocol reports here and get a preview of our latest report below.
Modular Layer-2 that separates execution, data availability (DA), and settlement to improve scalability and reduce costs
MNT governs Mantle’s treasury, roadmap, and key protocol parameters
MNT’s price rose 199.8% to $1.8, aided by deeper Bybit integration
Circulating market cap surged 189.8% QoQ to $5.7B
Public Layer-1 blockchain focused on the Machine Economy – enabling robots, devices, vehicles, and other machines to act as onchain economic agents
Positioning as a leading chain for robotics + machine RWAs (e.g., tokenized robo-farm in Hong Kong, Combinder energy devices, Silencio audio DePIN, XMAQUINA physical-AI DAO, Teneo AI-agent network)
Market cap up ~69% to ~$129M, 5.6M transactions (+19% QoQ)
Multiple CEX listings improve PEAQ liquidity and reach
Non-custodial staking protocol on Solana with its own governance token, MNDE
mSOL (Marinade SOL) – liquid staked SOL token; accrues staking yield and can be used across Solana DeFi (lending, LP, structured products)
~10.4M SOL staked across mSOL, Native, and Select, equal to about $2.2B TVL, with most stake in Marinade Native
Core staking + yield layer for regulated products and large treasuries (partnerships with Bitwise, BitGo, Paxos, VisionSys AI and others)
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TaoFlow
On November 4, 2025, Bittensor replaced one of the most important components of its tokenomics: how subnets earn TAO. The old system distributed TAO emissions to subnets based on the price of each subnet’s alpha token, which essentially reflects the total amount of TAO that had been staked to that subnet. It worked, but it rewarded history, not current TAO flows.
TaoFlow changes that.
Rather than using price as a proxy for demand, the network now bases emissions on net TAO flow, calculated each block as the difference between TAO staked into a subnet and TAO withdrawn from it. This produces a real-time representation of demand. However, Raw block-by-block flow data can be noisy, especially during short bursts of trading activity. To avoid overreacting to those swings, Bittensor smooths the signal using an exponential moving average (EMA) to emphasize the underlying trend rather than short-term volatility, creating a clearer picture of whether a subnet is consistently attracting TAO to the liquidity pool or extracting TAO from it.
The result is a far more responsive emissions model:
Sustained inflow pushes the EMA higher, increasing emissions
Slowing inflow causes the EMA to decay, reducing emissions
Extended outflow drives the EMA negative, dropping emissions to zero.
As emissions become more responsive, more movement is expected among subnets as they for TAO inflows.
Recycling Alpha
TaoFlow also ties into Bittensor’s subsidy mechanism, a balancing mechanism that keeps subnet prices and emissions aligned. When a subnet’s alpha token price falls below what its emissions imply, the protocol uses TAO to “recycle” that token and bring the two back into balance, thus subsidizing high net flow subnets. Recycling removes that alpha from the circulating supply and returns it to the emission pool for future distribution.
If you’re wondering which alpha tokens the protocol is actually buying/recycling, here are the top 10 subnets by “Chain Buys”:
