Table of Contents
A major piece of Bittensor’s trading infrastructure is changing hands.
General Tensor has acquired Backprop Finance from Tensorplex Labs, bringing one of the network’s highest-volume decentralized trading platforms under its umbrella as it looks to expand its footprint across decentralized AI and digital asset infrastructure.
The acquisition gives General Tensor control over a platform responsible for roughly one-third of Bittensor’s trading volume. Backprop Finance has become a central hub for trading Dynamic TAO (dTAO) subnet alpha tokens, offering users an all-in-one terminal for navigating Bittensor’s increasingly active subnet economy. The platform includes a dTAO swap terminal, subnet screening and analytics, gamified trader leaderboards, wallet tracking, whale transaction alerts, realized PNL monitoring for subnet owner activity, and portfolio visualization across both subnet tokens and validators.
Originally developed by Tensorplex Labs as part of a broader effort to build financial infrastructure for Bittensor, Backprop gained traction as a trader-first platform, particularly among Asian users.
“Our goal with Backprop was always to provide the Bittensor community with the best user experience to trade digital supercommodities,” said Darwin Liew, co-founder of Tensorplex Labs. “It was vital to find a steward who shares the same vision as us.”
Liew added that General Tensor’s stewardship of the General Tensor (RoundTable21) validator and long-term commitment to the ecosystem made it a suitable successor for the platform, helping ensure Backprop remains a neutral and high-performance utility for the broader Bittensor community.
General Tensor said Backprop represents a “critical puzzle piece” in a growing portfolio of products designed to support traders, builders, institutions, and eventually autonomous AI agents interacting with onchain systems.
“The backing from Lvna, DCG, Goodmorning Holdings, and our earlier rounds goes directly into that buildout,” said Mike Grantis, CEO of General Tensor.
The acquisition also positions the company for future cross-chain expansion into the broader DeFi ecosystem, signaling ambitions that may extend beyond Bittensor-native markets.
“We evaluated a number of opportunities in Bittensor before backing General Tensor,” said Lok Lee, managing partner at Good Morning Holdings. “What separated them was execution discipline — they don't just hold a position in this network, they built a valuable infrastructure platform.”
For existing Backprop users, General Tensor said the transition will require no action. All user data, portfolio tracking, and platform functionality will remain intact during the handover, while a dedicated development team will continue building new features aimed at expanding the platform’s capabilities.
As trading activity around subnet tokens continues to grow, the acquisition suggests General Tensor is betting that the next phase of Bittensor’s expansion will require not only compute infrastructure, but also the financial rails capable of supporting an increasingly active decentralized AI economy.
The deal follows General Tensor’s $5 million raise across its pre-seed and seed rounds, which included participation from Digital Currency Group, Lvna Capital, and Good Morning Holdings.
