This will be a short update on Bittensor’s recent chain halt, focusing on how it happened, how it was fixed, and what it exposes about the network. I’ll assume you have a general sense of what Bittensor is and how it works. Let’s get into it.

What Happened?

On May 20, Bittensor’s network froze completely at block 5,611,658.

To understand how this happened, you’ll need some context. Specifically, you need to know what Substrate is. Think of Substrate like McDonald’s franchise system. Instead of creating your own recipes, supply chains, and operating procedures from scratch (which is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive), you use their proven foundation and customize it for