Min Burn

How the min burn subnet hyperparameter sets the floor on the dynamic TAO burn required to register a neuron on a subnet.

Min burn is a per-subnet hyperparameter that sets the lower bound on the dynamic TAO burn required to register a neuron on a subnet. Official documentation describes it as the lower bound for that registration burn, gives a default of 0.0005 TAO, and marks it owner-settable.

References: Subnet Hyperparameters

How the Floor Works

Registering a neuron burns TAO, and that cost is dynamic: it rises as registrations occur and eases back during quieter periods, moving between a lower and an upper bound. Min burn fixes the bottom of that range, so the registration cost can settle toward it but not below it, keeping a baseline cost even when demand is low. Read together with max burn, it defines the floor side of the documented registration-burn band rather than a fixed registration price (Subnet Hyperparameters).

Reference: Subnet Hyperparameters

Per-Subnet Setting

Min burn is one of the subnet hyperparameters that configure a single subnet, for example netuid 1, and a subnet owner can adjust it. The value in force is per-subnet chain state and can differ from the documented default, so the real floor should be read for the subnet in question.

References: Subnet Hyperparameters, Register

Development Stage Context

The Introduction to Bittensor describes subnet development as moving from localnet to testnet and then mainnet. For min burn, that sequence changes how readers should interpret registration-cost floor examples.

In localnet, min-burn hyperparameters can be tested in an isolated environment. Localnet burn floors do not represent production registration costs.

On testnet, registration burn rules can be exercised in a shared non-production network. Testnet min burn values are separate from mainnet subnet state.

On mainnet, min burn is a live per-subnet hyperparameter on production subnets. Observed floors depend on the selected subnet’s on-chain hyperparameter state (Subnet Hyperparameters).

The Bittensor Networks reference separates mainnet, testnet, and localnet. A min-burn example from one environment should not be read as representing production registration costs in another environment.

Relationship to Yuma Consensus

Min Burn and Yuma Consensus describe related parts of Bittensor’s incentive system. Yuma Consensus is the on-chain process that aggregates validator weight signals within a subnet into miner incentives and validator dividends, applying consensus clipping, bonding, and emission calculation (Yuma Consensus).

For readers, min burn names a specific part of that incentive picture, while Yuma Consensus names the consensus process that turns validator weights into the resulting incentives and dividends.

Reader Boundary

This page defines the concept. It does not report the min burn value or the current registration cost on any particular subnet; those are live chain state to check for the relevant netuid.

Max Burn Caps the Same Dynamic Band

The Glossary: Register describes the neuron registration burn as dynamic with explicit bounds. The burn price is bounded by MinBurn and MaxBurn, so min burn fixes the floor while max burn fixes the ceiling for the same registration cost on a subnet (Subnet Hyperparameters).

Readers comparing burn parameters should treat the pair as one range. Min burn names the lowest allowed registration price; max burn names the highest allowed price under the same dynamic system.

Registration Fees Recycle Alpha From the Subnet Pool

Official register documentation states that alpha tokens worth the current swap value of the registration fee are taken from the subnet’s alpha liquidity pool and recycled when a hotkey registers. The TAO burn is the fee a registrant pays; the recycling step moves equivalent alpha value out of the subnet pool context described in subnet liquidity documentation (Glossary: Register, Understanding Subnets).

That keeps economic bounds separate from pool accounting. Min burn limits how low the TAO fee can fall; the recycling rule explains what happens to subnet alpha when a registration succeeds at any price inside the band.

Registration Allowed Can Close Entry Separately

The registration allowed hyperparameter controls whether new neurons can register on a subnet at all. When it is off, the subnet does not accept new registrations even if the dynamic burn sits near min burn (Subnet Hyperparameters).

Min burn therefore answers how low registration cost can fall, not whether registration is open. Readers should keep the burn floor separate from the root-level switch that gates subnet entry (Register).

BurnHalfLife Pulls the Live Burn Back Toward the Floor

The Glossary: Register describes the dynamic registration burn as decaying over time according to BurnHalfLife while staying inside the documented MinBurn and MaxBurn band. When registration demand quiets, that decay drifts the live burn downward, and min burn is the value it settles toward but cannot fall below (Subnet Hyperparameters).

That keeps min burn distinct from the decay mechanism. Half-life names how quickly the live burn eases during slow periods; min burn names the floor that decay approaches rather than passes.

References: Glossary: Register, Subnet Hyperparameters

BurnIncreaseMult Steps the Burn Up From the Floor

Official registration vocabulary also states that each successful registration can raise the dynamic burn through BurnIncreaseMult. That multiplier responds to demand inside the same min/max band: more registrations push the live burn upward from the floor, while half-life decay pulls it back down toward min burn when activity slows (Glossary: Register).

Min burn therefore sets where that upward stepping begins, not how far it can climb. A subnet owner can adjust the floor for their subnet, for example netuid 1, but the multiplier still operates only inside the documented hyperparameter bounds for that subnet (Subnet Hyperparameters).

References: Glossary: Register, Subnet Hyperparameters

Further Reading

Topics SubnetsRegistration