How to Register a Bittensor Miner for Competitive Subnet Mining Success
Table of Contents
Bittensor is a decentralized network where miners contribute machine intelligence and earn rewards in Bittensor TAO tokens. By providing responses to validators, miners compete on Bittensor subnets to maximize emissions.
Mining in Bittensor is highly competitive so it is difficult to win one of the limited spaces to mine for a Subnet. Since our case study on Royal Tensor - Optimising Bittensor Mining Operations with OnFinality a lot of teams have asked us for help improving their chances to secure a slot - so here is everything we've learned over the past 2 years working with the best teams in Bittensor
We hope this is helpful!
Introduction to Bittensor Mining
A Bittensor miner is a node that contributes machine intelligence to the Bittensor network, competing on subnets and earning TAO rewards scored by validators.
If you want to participate in Bittensor mining, the first step is registering your miner. Registration ensures your node is recognized by the network, can compete for emissions, and begins earning TAO.
However, registering a miner in profitable subnets is extremely competitive. The best results come from combining automated registration with dedicated registration nodes. Here’s how to properly register your miner and why OnFinality’s dedicated nodes give you an edge.
How to Register a Bittensor Miner in a Competitive Subnet
Getting Started
To participate as a Bittensor miner, you must register a hotkey with a chosen subnet to receive a UID - your miner’s identity on that subnet. You don’t need to create a subnet to mine; most miners join existing ones. You can explore the list of active subnets with the help of our friends Taostats
Registration requires a TAO fee, which fluctuates dynamically and becomes a sunk cost once paid.
Each subnet supports a limited number of miner and validator UIDs, so securing your slot is essential. Once registered, your hotkey (linked to your wallet) permanently holds that UID.
For full details, see the Bittensor miner registration guide.
Step 1: Automate Bittensor Miner Registration
Registering a Bittensor miner is competitive, with limited slots available each epoch. Many miners use automation tools to monitor registration costs, trigger alerts, and instantly secure slots when prices drop.
Unfortunately, due to the competitive nature of Bittensor mining, most teams don’t share their registration script so you will need to develop it yourself.
For more details, see this example automating Bittensor mining by Taeyoung Lee.
Step 2: Register via an OnFinality Dedicated Node
Your automated registration tool needs fast, guaranteed access to the Blockchain Network to put in its offer. OnFinality Dedicated Nodes help you to jump the queue on public RPC endpoints, getting your request faster to a nearby Validator node.
By registering your miner directly on an OnFinality dedicated node, you eliminate setup complexity of running your own Bittensor RPC node and guarantee enterprise-grade reliability.
- High availability (99.9% uptime SLA)
- One-Click Deployment
- Fully Managed by OnFinality
- Global deployment options
See how Royal Tensor increased their mining registration chances by running a distributed set of purpose built registration nodes with OnFinality
Step 3: Reduce Latency
Latency matters in Bittensor. The closer your automated registration tool is to our registration node, and the closest that node is to validators, the faster it can snatch up mining spots.
OnFinality’s global infrastructure allows you to situate your registration tooling in regions closest to validators, ensuring lower latency and higher competitiveness.
For Bittensor, we recommend running your OnFinality Dedicated Node and your automated registration tool in the North Virginia region.
Common Questions about Bittensor Mining
Do I need TAO to register a Bittensor miner?
Yes. You’ll need Bittensor TAO to pay for fees when registering your miner on-chain. The amount varies depending on the competitive nature of each Subnet.
What is a Bittensor Subnet?
Subnets are specialized areas of the Bittensor network where miners compete to provide responses for a specific type of task. Each subnet has its own validators and emissions.
What is Emission in Bittensor?
Emission in Bittensor is the process of distributing TAO rewards to miners based on the quality of their contributions, as scored by validators across Bittensor subnets
What is a Bittensor Miner
A Bittensor miner is a node that contributes machine intelligence to the Bittensor network, competing on subnets and earning TAO rewards scored by validators.
What is a Bittensor validator?
Validators score miner outputs based on usefulness and quality. They determine how much TAO each miner earns. Reliable, low-latency miners have a better chance of ranking highly.
Final Thoughts
Registering a Bittensor miner is essential for joining the decentralized intelligence economy and earning Bittensor TAO. Success depends on four key practices:
- Automate registration to quickly grab slots as they become available
- Using OnFinality dedicated nodes for reliability and to skip the queue.
- Reduce latency by deploying close to OnFinality’s regions.
By combining these strategies, you’ll position your miner to thrive in the Bittensor ecosystem.
👉 Run a Dedicated Bittensor Registration Node with OnFinality and start mining with confidence
Reach out at support@onfinality.io for personalised help!
About OnFinality
OnFinality is a blockchain infrastructure platform that saves web3 builders time and makes their lives easier. OnFinality delivers scalable API endpoints, nodes, and indexers for the biggest blockchain networks and empowers developers to automatically test, deploy, scale and monitor their own blockchain nodes in minutes.
To date, OnFinality has served hundreds of billions of RPC requests, supports over 125 networks including Avalanche, BNB Chain, Cosmos, Polkadot, Ethereum, and Polygon, and is continuously expanding these mission-critical services so developers can build the decentralised future, faster!