- Bittensor’s token plunged 16% in 24 hours to hit lows of $389.
- Losses for the top artificial intelligence coin came amid profit-taking following a recent spike.
- Fed’s hawkish stance, the Balancer exploit, and AI-capital rotation has fueled risk-off sentiment.
Bittensor’s native token, TAO, has tumbled 16% over the past 24 hours, dipping to lows of $389 as it outpaced the artificial intelligence sector’s overall decline of 9%.
Losses for Bittensor came as Bitcoin slipped to near $100,000, and the total market capitalization dropped to under $3.4 trillion.
While analysts remain bullish for BTC and the broader market, investors are grappling with a confluence of macroeconomic pressures.
Sector-specific headwinds are also in play and could add to declines driven by panic selling.
Bittensor’s TAO plunges amid profit-taking
Bittensor is a decentralized machine learning protocol that incentivizes collaborative AI model training through its blockchain.
The native token TAO’s price has outperformed recently, tapping into gains for AI-related stocks like Nvidia.
However, the token’s value cratered to $3.89, marking a 16% intraday loss.
Bulls have attempted a recovery, but the price hovers at $400, down from highs of $488.
Meanwhile, trading volume surged 17% to $712 million, a scenario that reflects the heightened panic selling.
Like across the broader market, this comes as retail and institutional holders liquidate positions on jitters around the waning AI-driven rally.
The plunge appears exacerbated by profit-taking following the launch of Europe’s first staked TAO exchange-traded product (ETP) by Safello.
It initially sparked a major rally, but bulls have since failed to sustain momentum.
Broader crypto market sell-off
The cryptocurrency ecosystem has suffered a substantial loss, with over $250 billion evaporating in market value within 24 hours, culminating in a 5.8% contraction in overall market capitalisation to $3.4 trillion.
Bittensor’s underperformance against Bitcoin, down 6% to near $100,000, and top altcoins, in relative terms, highlights TAO’s vulnerability in a risk-off environment.
#BTC is at a critical level.
Multiple closes below the 50W would confirm the top being in as it always has each cycle.
Regardless of whether the top is in, or if we go slightly higher, I still think 2026 will be a bear market, just like all prior midterm years. pic.twitter.com/4T9fAsQchs
— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) November 4, 2025
Sentiment is in the fear zone.
This outlook sees Ethereum down 8% to $3,340, breaching key support at $3,550 and erasing 18% over the week.
Solana and XRP have also posted key losses, and liquidations across derivatives markets exceeded $1.13 billion.
A lot of the downbeat sentiment is the reaction to Federal Reserve officials’ remarks that have cut bets for a December rate cut.
Meanwhile, Wall Street jitters have seen US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs log four consecutive days of outflows.
The Balancer crypto hack incident also dented sentiment.
“The latest $128M Balancer exploit is a reminder of something fundamental: most smart contracts today rely on audit-based hope. Developers write complex code, auditors review it, and everyone hopes there are no hidden logic flaws. But hope isn’t assurance,”Bitcoin finance platform Blockstream noted on X.
