07 / 19IN DEVELOPMENTLive parts and proposed parts, each tagged
Pricing and accounts
ProposedParts of this chapter are PROPOSED. Each proposed part is tagged where it appears; everything else describes what runs. Charging is off, TAON is not deployed, no TAO reserve exists and no audit has been done.
EvidenceActivity Accounting endpoint
When charging exists, a reader would buy prepaid credit and each answered request would spend the proposed price of what it does from it. Until then every figure on this page is a proposal.
Proposed prices
PROPOSED| What you ask for | Proposed price | In one sentence | State | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answer | $0.01 per request | A written answer from an open model served on Bittensor subnet 64. | PROPOSEDFree today, not charged | 98.7% at expected cost, 78.6% at the hard cost bound |
| Research | $0.03 per request | A web search on subnet 22, then a written answer that cites it. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 95.4% at expected cost, 40.0% at the hard cost bound |
| Market | $0.01 per request | Open forecast questions and miner forecasts from subnet 6. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 98.7% at expected cost, 78.6% at the hard cost bound |
| Image | $0.05 per image | One generated image from a model served on subnet 64. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 89.6% at expected cost, 47.8% at the hard cost bound |
| Speech | $0.04 per clip | Text read aloud, or a short recording turned into text. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 93.5% at expected cost, 51.0% at the hard cost bound |
| Embeddings | $0.01 per request | Vectors for up to six short texts, for search or comparison. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 93.5% at expected cost, 34.7% at the hard cost bound |
| Find a match | $0.02 per request | Ranks up to six short texts by how well they fit your question. | PROPOSEDNot operating as a paid service | 96.1% at expected cost, 56.7% at the hard cost bound |
Research, Market, Image, Speech, Embeddings and Find a match are NOT OPERATING as paid services. Each is sold only after its provider cost and resale terms are confirmed.
Premium price forecasts are not sold: they cost more per call than a fair price would cover.
Free use: a limited number of Answer and Research requests a day, with a monthly total cap. Free use stays after paid use opens.
Each capability has its own price because each costs a different amount to serve. A written answer costs a fraction of a cent. An image or a search costs more. Prices are set so that one unusually long or failed request does not cost more than it earns.
PROPOSED
- 01Price
- 02Reserve
- 03Provider call
- 04Settle or release
- 05Record
- The server alone sets the price. A browser may send only the most it agrees to pay.
- The full price is held from the reader’s balance, in one atomic step, before any provider is called. No hold, no call.
- Only a complete, delivered answer is charged. A failure, a timeout, an answer cut short, a reused answer or a reader who leaves releases the hold in full.
- A balance is the sum of an append-only ledger in integer micro-USD. The database refuses any change to an entry, any overdraft by a hold, and any refund above what was charged.
- What a request costs TAONIC at its provider is recorded separately from what the reader paid, on every request.
Credit packs
PROPOSEDThree proposed packs of $5, $20 and $50, in US dollars. The $5 pack is the entry pack and $20 the default. The whole pack is credited; the processor’s charge is TAONIC’s cost.
| Pack | Answers only | Research only | Images only | A typical developer mix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | about 485 | about 162 | about 97 | about 323 requests |
| $20 | about 1,940 | about 647 | about 388 | about 1,293 requests |
| $50 | about 4,850 | about 1,617 | about 970 | about 3,233 requests |
The counts allow for a small share of credit being refunded. The typical mix is an assumption: mostly answers, some research, a little media. Unused credit could be refunded on request within 30 days (PROPOSED policy). Credit buys service only. It is not a deposit, an investment or a claim on anything TAONIC holds.
| Pack | Left after provider, card, refund and dispute costs | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| $5 | $4.15 | 82.9% |
| $20 | $17.60 | 88.0% |
| $50 | $44.51 | 89.0% |
Covering running costs needs roughly $400 of pack sales a month at the proposed prices; also paying one developer $6,000 a month needs roughly $7,200 (modelled, not measured).
| Development budget | Pack sales a month | Packs of $20 |
|---|---|---|
| None | $403 | 20 packs |
| $1,000 a month | $1,540 | 77 packs |
| $3,000 a month | $3,812 | 191 packs |
| $6,000 a month | $7,221 | 361 packs |
Modelled, not measured. Sales today are $0 because charging is off. Break-even here means monthly credit-pack sales at which running costs and the stated development budget are covered. Below it, nothing is left over.
How a customer could pay
PROPOSEDPayment methods are separate questions. The first is the practical path. The second is not ready.
| Method | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Card or prepaid credits through a payment processor | PROPOSED | The practical first path. The charging code is built and switched off. Before a first payment: a processor account in the operator’s legal name, published terms, a refund policy, tax handling, spending limits, dispute handling and the accounting fixes verified. |
| Paying with TAO | NOT DEPLOYED | NOT OPERATING. A future option, not ready and not offered. It could come after custody, accounting, refund and legal questions are settled, priced in dollars and converted at a stated rate on the receipt. Bridged TAO on other chains would not be accepted. |
Revenue is what completed requests charged, less refunds. It is never called profit, and it is not what the reserve could use. That is eligible surplus, what remains after every cost:
eligible surplus = max(0, recognized revenue − refunds − processor fees − provider costs − operating obligations − tax reserve)
- recognized revenue
- credit actually spent on answered requests, never credit merely bought
- provider costs
- what TAONIC paid its providers, including for free requests
- max(0, …)
- a loss is carried as a loss; nothing is bought against it
Today every term is zero except provider cost, which belongs to free requests, so eligible surplus is a real zero. Charging is not enabled yet, so customer charge, revenue and eligible surplus are real zeros. No TAO has been acquired, because no system that could acquire it exists. The use of eligible surplus is in 07 TAO reserve policy.
Before one real payment
- The owner’s written go-ahead, phase by phase, in test mode first.
- A payment processor chosen, its adapter written, and its webhooks verified.
- Terms of service, refund and privacy terms, and legal and tax review.
- Sign-in and receipts in the interface; accounts are off today.
Every state on this page matches Status. Where they ever differ, Status is right and this page is a defect.