Swap TAO

Buy TAO with USDC or sell it for USDC on Kokoah, and move it to and from your Bittensor wallet: each step, its fees, and what to do if one stops.

What it does

Swap TAO, in the Subnet menu, trades TAO for USDC on Hyperliquid and moves it between Hyperliquid and your Bittensor wallet. Use it to get the TAO you need to join the subnet, or to turn TAO into USDC.

On Hyperliquid, TAO trades as HTAO, carried there and back by the Mentat bridge. How it is backed, and why some steps need your signature, is explained just below.

How HTAO works

HTAO is TAO on Hyperliquid. The Mentat bridge makes it: when TAO comes in from Bittensor, the bridge locks it in its contract on Bittensor and the same amount of HTAO appears on Hyperliquid; when HTAO goes out, the bridge removes it on Hyperliquid and releases the TAO on Bittensor. So every HTAO is backed by one TAO locked on Bittensor, which anyone can check on chain.

Each transfer travels through Arbitrum, where the bridge passes it on to the other side. LayerZero, a network for messages between blockchains, carries each leg, and 3 of 4 independent checkers must confirm it. A transfer usually takes 3 to 6 minutes.

On Hyperliquid, your HTAO can sit in two places that belong to the same address: your spot balance, where it trades, and your address on HyperEVM, Hyperliquid’s EVM side, where the bridge picks it up. On Bittensor, the bridge works through Bittensor EVM, so your TAO first moves between your Bittensor wallet and your own address there.

Kokoah never holds your funds, so it can’t move them on its own. Each step is signed by you, by one of these:

Your trading key
Places the orders that buy or sell HTAO, and the HYPE for the bridge fee, within the limits you set. It needs no pop-up, and it can only trade: it can never move funds.
Your wallet
Approves each move of your funds: USDC from perps to spot, HYPE and HTAO to your HyperEVM address, and the bridge transaction on HyperEVM or Bittensor EVM.
Your Bittensor wallet
Sends your TAO to your own Bittensor EVM address when you sell TAO from Bittensor.

Because only you can move your funds, a swap that stops halfway leaves them at your own addresses, ready to finish (see If a step stops).

HTAO’s price comes from its own market on Hyperliquid, so it can be a little above or below TAO’s price elsewhere, more so when the market is quiet. Swap TAO shows the price before you confirm.

Mentat runs the bridge, not Kokoah. Its contracts are audited, and the checkers above confirm every transfer.

Before you start

  • A Kokoah account with USDC on Hyperliquid to buy, or TAO in a Bittensor wallet to sell.
  • Trading turned on in this browser: Kokoah’s trading key places the orders. Swap TAO turns on spot trading for you.
  • To move TAO to or from Bittensor, a browser wallet such as MetaMask or Rabby: the Kokoah email wallet signs Hyperliquid actions only. Sending to Bittensor also needs a Standard account; Swap TAO offers the switch.
  • To sell TAO from Bittensor, a Bittensor wallet in your browser, such as Talisman, SubWallet or the Bittensor Wallet.

Buy TAO

  1. Open Subnet → Swap TAO and choose Buy.
  2. Choose where the TAO goes: Keep on Hyperliquid, or My Bittensor wallet with your wallet’s address (it starts with 5).
  3. Enter how much USDC to pay and check the summary: what arrives, the price, the fees and the time.
  4. Press Buy TAO, or Buy and send, and approve each step as it comes.

To your Bittensor wallet, Kokoah buys a little HYPE for the bridge fee and then the TAO (trading key), moves both to your own address on HyperEVM, Hyperliquid’s EVM side (wallet signatures), then sends the TAO over the bridge (a transaction in your wallet). It arrives in about 3 to 6 minutes; the page shows each leg and links to LayerZero Scan.

Sell TAO

  1. Open Swap TAO and choose Sell.
  2. Choose where the TAO is: My Bittensor wallet (connect the wallet and pick the account) or TAO on Hyperliquid.
  3. From Bittensor, choose what happens when it lands: Sell for USDC, or Keep as HTAO.
  4. Enter the amount, press the button and approve each step as it comes.

From a Bittensor wallet, your Bittensor wallet first sends the TAO to your own address on Bittensor EVM, then your browser wallet sends it over the bridge. It reaches Hyperliquid in about 3 to 6 minutes, and Kokoah sells it if you chose to. Keep the page open until then: if you leave, the TAO still arrives and stays in your spot balance as HTAO.

Fees and limits

Hyperliquid fee
Hyperliquid’s spot trading fee on each order.
Kokoah fee
None on buys; Kokoah’s usual fee on sells.
Bridge fee
Paid to the bridge for both legs: in HYPE when TAO goes to Bittensor (Kokoah buys it from your USDC), in TAO when it comes in. What the fee doesn’t use stays at your own address.
Price limit
Each order fills at once within 1% of the price; whatever can’t is cancelled, never left resting.
Order size
One order can be at most a tenth of what TAO traded on Hyperliquid in the last 24 hours.

If a step stops

Your funds always stay at your own addresses, so a swap that stopped can be finished later from Swap TAO:

  • Your TAO is at your HyperEVM address (a move or the bridge transaction didn’t complete): choose Send.
  • Your TAO is at your Bittensor EVM address: choose Sell, then TAO at my Bittensor EVM address.
  • The TAO reached Hyperliquid but wasn’t sold: choose Sell, then TAO on Hyperliquid.
  • A transfer seems stuck on its way: follow it on LayerZero Scan from the link Swap TAO shows, or ask the Mentat bridge’s support.
  • You closed the page while TAO was on its way: open Swap TAO again in the same browser. It shows each transfer you started there in the last day, with its progress, until it arrives.