How the engine works

Two events. One growing wheel.

SN20 makes money for the people who hold it in two simple events. One when a team gets selected. One when a team graduates. Each turn of the wheel pays out — and the wheel only spins faster as more teams come through.

EVENT_01 selection

A team gets selected.

They pay a $50,000 selection fee. Half of that is used to buy SN20 on the market and burn it. Supply shrinks. Every existing holder owns a slightly bigger slice of the network.

$50K fee→½ buys SN20→burned
EVENT_02 graduation

A team graduates.

About six months later, the team launches its own subnet on Bittensor and starts earning emissions. SN20 keeps a 15–25% share of those emissions, forever. That share splits three ways:

  • 40%
    To SN20 token holders. Distributed block by block, every day, from every graduated subnet.
  • 10%
    Buy & burn. More SN20 bought on-market and destroyed. Supply keeps shrinking.
  • 50%
    To the program. Funds validation, infrastructure, and the next intake.
↑

And it stacks.

Up to two new teams enter the program every month — as many as 24 a year. Each graduate stacks on top of every graduate before it. By year three, the wheel is paying holders from dozens of subnets at the same time.

PARTY_01 SN20 — the subnet → multi-source permanent buy & burn → graduate subnet emissions PARTY_02 · THE ANGEL SEAT SN20 token holders → airdrops from every graduate → in perpetuity, no picking winners PARTY_03 Crowd funders → permanent per-block emissions → from the proven subnet they backed PARTY_04 Incubation teams → slot, runway & full program support → crowdfunded launch at graduation SN20 BREEDING GROUND the flywheel
↓ See each party in detail below
SN20 engine & token holders
Participating party
Value distribution
Who gets what

Four parties. One engine.

The SN20 flywheel isn't zero-sum. Each turn of the engine pays out to four distinct groups at the same time — here is exactly what each one receives.

PARTY_01

SN20 — the subnet

  • Multi-source permanent buy & burn — selection fees and a share of every graduate's emissions continuously buy SN20 on-market and destroy it.
  • Graduate subnet emissions — SN20's share in every graduate pays emissions back to the engine, forever.
PARTY_02 THE ANGEL SEAT

SN20 token holders

  • Airdrops from every graduate — distributed block by block, every day, from every graduating subnet.
  • In perpetuity — the airdrops never stop, and the portfolio of graduates only grows.
  • No picking winners — one position is exposure to every subnet the program ever graduates.
PARTY_03

Crowd funders

  • Permanent per-block emissions — backing a team through its crowdloan earns a continuous on-chain emissions stream.
  • From a proven subnet — funders earn from a graduated, validated subnet, not a speculative idea.
PARTY_04

Incubation teams

  • A slice of SN20 — one of eight slots, giving an idea a real foothold on the network.
  • Operating runway from day one — a team mines its own incubation slot, and those emissions fund the build through the program.
  • Full support — advisory, validator, dev and marketing help across the program.
  • A crowdfunded launch — graduation delivers both the subnet slot and the capital to run it.
Model it yourself

Watch the flywheel compound.

Move the inputs. See what a year of graduations does to the value returned to SN20 holders. These are illustrative figures, not guarantees.

// Inputs
Graduating subnets / year 12
Up to 24 a year at full capacity. Not every team graduates — model conservatively.
Avg. emissions / subnet / yr 6,500 τ
Yearly emissions a typical graduated subnet produces, in TAO. Dollar value scales with the TAO price below.
TAO price assumption
// assumptions baked in
  • 20% blended emission share — midpoint of the 15% (fee-paying teams) / 25% (non-paying teams) range.
  • ~Half the teams pay the $50K selection fee — the rest take the higher-share tier.
Annual value returned to SN20 holders
$1.6M
airdrop + buy & burn pressure, per year
Holder airdrop / yr
$1.2M
Buy & burn / yr
$385K
Cumulative value to holders — years 1–4 ⓘ Why year 1 looks lean. Incubation runs six months, so the first graduates only appear in month seven. Year 1 sees roughly half a year of partial-year graduations. Year 2 onward, the wheel runs at full speed — and the share from every prior year keeps paying.
// each year stacks on every year before it — year 4 collects from years 1 through 4 at once.
Why it works

What makes this a genuinely rare design.

Most subnet tokens accrue value one way. SN20 stacks three reinforcing streams — and offloads its single biggest cost to the market.

01 — CAPITAL EFFICIENCY

The market funds registration, not SN20.

Investor crowdloans cover each subnet's registration cost. SN20 captures its 15–25% emission share without fronting the network's most expensive line item.

02 — COMPOUNDING

Each year stacks on the last.

Every graduate adds a permanent 15–25% emission share. Year four collects from every subnet of years one through four — at once.

03 — ALIGNED INCENTIVES

Holders, builders, backers all win.

Burns reward holders, lease shares reward backers, runway rewards builders. No side wins at another's expense — the network just gets more good subnets.

Honest disclosure

What has to go right — and what can't be guaranteed.

Subnets can fail

Graduated subnets can underperform or be deregistered. Emission-share and airdrop value depend on real emissions.

Crowdloans can fall short

If a team's crowdloan target isn't met, contributors are fully refunded — but that team doesn't graduate on schedule.

Registration cost is dynamic

The TAO burn to register a subnet moves with demand. Crowdloan targets must be sized with a live buffer.

Models are not forecasts

The calculator above is an illustrative tool. Real outcomes depend on intake quality, emissions, and TAO price.

The wheel is built

It just needs its first push.

SN20 launches on June 11, 2026. Partners, backers, and builders who move early shape the engine.

Ways to back it → Back to overview