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Blockmachine, Bittensor’s Subnet 19, has received holder approval to operate a redesigned free public RPC service for the Bittensor ecosystem, shifting a long-running infrastructure burden from the Opentensor Foundation toward a subnet-run model.
According to the SN19 free public RPC governance proposal, the approved plan removes the current account and API-key requirement for free access, replaces key-based controls with IP-based rate limits, and limits miner eligibility for free-tier routing to operators that maintain an on-chain conviction lock.
The vote closed July 1 with unanimous support from four voters, representing 86,675.17 SN19 in weighted approval. The approval also authorizes a whitepaper amendment that excludes free-tier traffic from Protocol-Supported Revenue, or PSR, buybacks because the free tier does not generate customer revenue.
What SN19 Holders Approved
Remote Procedure Call, or RPC, endpoints are a basic access layer for blockchains. Wallets, explorers, dashboards, bots, applications, and developer scripts use RPC infrastructure to read chain data or submit transactions without each user running their own node.
For Bittensor, the free public RPC endpoint has been a shared infrastructure resource used across the ecosystem. Blockmachine’s proposal argues that the service should now be operated by a subnet that already provides production RPC infrastructure, rather than remaining only a Foundation-supported cost center.
The approved free-tier design includes four major changes. Users would be able to access the free tier without creating an account or managing a key, and usage controls would move from API keys to IP-level throttling. The free tier would cover lite-node service only, without archive-node access, and miners would need an active SN19 lock to serve free-tier traffic.
That structure separates the free public access layer from Blockmachine’s paid RPC product. Blockmachine’s current pricing page lists paid tiers with API keys, request-unit budgets, archive access on paid plans, usage dashboards, USDC payments, and higher rate limits for production users. The holder-approved free tier is designed for public access and ecosystem availability, not as a replacement for higher-volume paid infrastructure.
Why Free-Tier Traffic Is Excluded From Buybacks
A central part of the proposal is the treatment of PSR buybacks.
Blockmachine’s paid-tier model ties buybacks to customer revenue, making the buyback a signal that real demand is being converted into subnet economics. Free-tier RPC traffic does not produce customer revenue, so applying the same buyback rule to free usage would require the subnet to buy back SN19 against revenue that does not exist.
The approved amendment avoids that mismatch. Free-tier traffic can still earn miners on-chain emissions for useful work, but it will not generate PSR buybacks. Paid-tier buybacks remain unchanged and continue to correspond to actual customer revenue.
That distinction matters because it keeps the free RPC program from blurring two different functions. The free tier is a public infrastructure service, while PSR buybacks are meant to reflect commercial demand. By accounting for them separately, the proposal aims to let SN19 support public Bittensor infrastructure without weakening the revenue signal tied to paid customers.
The proposal also says free-tier work will not contribute to paid-tier routing, paid-tier quality standing, or buyback-eligible revenue. In practice, that means miners should not be able to manufacture free traffic in order to improve their position for paid demand.
How the Conviction Lock Works
The main abuse risk in an account-free RPC service is self-generated traffic. If free requests can earn subnet emissions, a miner or operator could try to send artificial volume through the free tier to capture rewards.
Blockmachine’s answer is an on-chain conviction lock. To be eligible for free-tier routing, a miner must lock SN19 in proportion to cumulative free-tier earnings. The proposal describes the lock as scaling with what the miner has earned from the free tier; if cumulative earnings exceed the required lock coverage, the miner becomes ineligible until the lock is increased.
The mechanism does not make abuse impossible. Instead, it changes the economics. A miner trying to farm free-tier emissions would also have to keep more SN19 locked and exposed to market risk. Selling into the market while relying on a growing locked position means the operator is also pressuring the value of the collateral that makes further free-tier routing possible.
That design gives the free public RPC service an economic filter rather than relying only on centralized account controls. It is especially relevant because the proposal removes the account and API-key requirement, making open access easier for legitimate users but also requiring a stronger deterrent against low-quality or self-generated demand.
Why It Matters for Bittensor Infrastructure
The approval gives Blockmachine a more visible role in Bittensor’s infrastructure stack.
SN19 launched as a decentralized RPC marketplace where independent node operators compete to serve blockchain requests through a common access layer. Its broader commercial thesis is that RPC infrastructure can be priced and routed through competition rather than only through centralized providers. Taking on free public Bittensor RPC extends that role from a paid infrastructure product into a shared ecosystem service.
The timing also matters because Bittensor’s subnet economy increasingly rewards visible, useful work. The proposal specifically frames free public RPC as a way for SN19 to demonstrate "emission-worthiness" by serving infrastructure that wallets, tools, and developers already need. Instead of leaving a large portion of emissions unused or burned, the subnet can direct a carved-out share toward externally used public traffic.
The proposal ties that argument to chain spec 421, which it says changed how burn behavior affects a subnet’s share of network TAO emission. Under the proposal’s reasoning, putting emissions toward real public service can improve the subnet’s standing while making the work more legible to the broader network.
The team was careful not to frame the change as automatically deflationary. Free-tier work earns emissions without customer-funded buybacks, while conviction locks remove some SN19 from liquid circulation for the duration of the lock. The proposal’s economic case is narrower: the free RPC program is about infrastructure positioning, useful work, and emission treatment, while Blockmachine’s long-term economic engine remains paid RPC demand.
A Subnet-Run Public Access Layer
The holder approval does not turn free RPC into a revenue product. It authorizes Blockmachine to operate a public access layer for Bittensor while keeping the revenue-backed economics of its paid tier separate.
If implemented as described, the change would make SN19 part of the ecosystem’s default infrastructure path: a free RPC option with no account requirement, IP-based rate limits, lite-node access, and miner participation constrained by conviction locks. That is a practical role rather than a purely narrative one.
For Bittensor, the broader takeaway is that more of the network’s supporting infrastructure can be handled by subnets themselves. In Blockmachine’s case, the vote moves free public RPC from a Foundation-carried service toward a subnet-funded model, while preserving a clearer line between public infrastructure work and paid commercial demand.
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