.webp)
Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Thomas Dougherty, a distinguished Machine Learning Climate Scientist at Stanford University. With a focus on leveraging satellite imagery for large-scale urban decarbonization, Thomas is at the forefront of tackling one of the most critical issues of our time: climate change.
He recently completed his PhD in Engineering at Stanford, contributing to several influential publications and projects that explore computer vision, hyperspectral data, and urban knowledge graphs. Beyond his academic achievements, Thomas has made significant strides in the health tech sector, designing machine learning infrastructure at AceCancer to provide personalized recommendations for cancer patients. His solid foundation in software engineering, honed during his time at Yonomi, allows him to bridge the gap between advanced research and practical applications, particularly in the realms of containerization and production-level code deployment.
In addition to his role at Stanford, Thomas is currently the Manager of Research and Development at Taoshi, where he aligns high-level company objectives with innovative research in open-source financial forecasting using blockchain technology. With his unique blend of expertise in machine learning, data analysis, and environmental science, Thomas Dougherty is leading the charge for sustainable solutions in both urban and health contexts.
James (CryptoBit Mag): Can you tell us about your project? Who you are, your position?
Thomas Dougherty: Yeah, so I work with Taoshi. I like to give people a little bit of context with Bittensor, if they're not familiar. Bittensor is kind of our umbrella organization, and Bittensor has a number of subnets within it. We are a subnet. Each of the subnets is essentially designing a game where, ideally, the output of the game is a commodity.
Some of the subnets are saying, generate new images with AI, generate new text with AI. Our subnet is tasking our miners with generating financial predictions. We evaluate them on the quality of their predictions and then automatically pay them out if they're a top-tier trader. That's Taoshi.
James (CryptoBit Mag): Interesting. How long have you guys been around?
Thomas Dougherty: We started in November. We pivoted a little bit in March, which is interesting to get to where we are now. But our product has been essentially as it is for the past three or four months, finalizing some things, tweaking things, but really it's in polishing phases.
James (CryptoBit Mag): Is there any product that's live, or is it just a website?
Thomas Dougherty: Yes, it's live. The traders come in, they make trades. The trades are evaluated by code that we open source on GitHub. Validators pull our most recent version, run the logic to essentially determine what a good trader is, and then they have access to the real-time trades.
We built something called the request network, which lets them sell their trades in real-time as they get them from top traders on the system. That's live right now. You can buy signals if you'd like from the request network. Just go to request.taoshi.io, choose a validator, and then subscribe to the service from them and copy trade. It's pretty straightforward, really.
James (CryptoBit Mag): What do you think sets you apart from your competitors? What do you bring to the space that's different?
Thomas Dougherty: The classic competitor is the other prop trading firms. Those are the traditional groups that have been around for a while. The major issue there is that their incentive isn't aligned for high-quality products necessarily.
Essentially, the way they work is that they have a registration fee, and if you fail a challenge period, for a lot of these prop trading groups, they keep the fees. That actually represents a pretty big fraction of their revenue, which means they have an incentive to fail traders.
We don't take the profit from our registration. Every miner still registers and pays a fee, but that doesn't go to us. We actually want to see our miners procure high-quality information. Ideally, when the system does that, there's redundancy in place of what kind of information we're bringing to the forefront of our product. So if a single miner drops off, there's still a redundancy of other miners available.
Bittensor is also an interesting avenue. We operate within this Bittensor ecosystem. By leveraging the emissions that go to miners, we can essentially say, "If you're the highest quality performing trader, or let's say top 10, your trades are substantially more valuable." We can leverage those to a greater portfolio, so our payouts are actually substantially higher than traditional prop trading firms.
If you're a really good trader on a prop trading group, they might give you $500,000 to trade with. Let's say they let you take most of the earnings. If you take 20% on that, you're looking at $100,000 a year. With our group, if you're a top trader in our ecosystem, they make thousands of dollars per day. Our top miners are around one to $2 million a year, so the upside is substantially higher than traditional groups.
James (CryptoBit Mag): What was your entrance into crypto? And what is your background before?
Thomas Dougherty: Funny story, so I was in academia before. I was doing research. I was kind of in climate tech, and I was building a lot of algorithms for computer vision for my research. As I was finishing my PhD, I had just kind of a one-off conversation with our CEO, Arash, about contributing open source to this project and maybe being a trader on our platform.
They were growing really fast, and we had a good call, and he was like, "Hey, we really need to move quickly. We're doing a lot of stuff. We'd really love to have you." So I joined the group, and that was my first major foray into crypto.
I think we're a little bit unique in that way. A lot of our group is relatively new to this space, but they come from more traditional business backgrounds. It brings new energy, which is great.
James (CryptoBit Mag): Where are you guys based out of?
Thomas Dougherty: We're kind of spread out, so decentralized. We're in the US, but kind of on the coasts a little bit. There's a big group in California and we're split across the US.
James (CryptoBit Mag): Is there anything else you'd like the audience to know, or your social media where they can find you, how they can be involved?
Thomas Dougherty: There's a website which has all of our information: taoshi.io. Join our Discord to stay up to date. You can audit all of our code on GitHub.
We're looking for new talent right now. We want everybody who has a good strategy, who is a traditional trader, to come on, jump on our platform, start trading, earning Tao, getting familiar with our ecosystem.
We're making a big push right now to try to collect more talent by reaching out to universities. We want to start putting on hackathons and things like that. We're writing a lot of open-source software to help collect data, to help get baseline models, things like that. We really want to be giving people the right tools to be competitive from the start.
So that's kind of a big push. We want new people. We'd love to have you if you're interested in trading.
Visit and follow Taoshi:
https://discord.com/invite/MKtKVYnCDh
https://www.linkedin.com/company/taoshiio/
https://github.com/taoshidev/proprietary-trading-network
All interview transcripts have been meticulously transcribed by Stylo.Network, ensuring accuracy and clarity in every detail.
Exploring the Features of Taoshi.io: Empowering Decentralized Finance and Beyond
In the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology, Taoshi.io stands out as a beacon of innovation, particularly within the Bittensor ecosystem. Here's a look at some of the standout features that make Taoshi.io a pivotal platform for those interested in decentralized finance (DeFi), trading, and beyond.
Taoshi.io leverages the power of decentralized AI to deliver world-class quant trading signals. This approach not only democratizes access to high-quality trading intelligence but also ensures that the data and signals provided are the result of collective intelligence, refined through the Bittensor network's competitive environment.
A core feature of Taoshi.io is the Request Network, a marketplace designed for decentralized data and services. Here's what you can do:
Register and Access Services: Users can register, agree to service terms, and gain API key access for direct peer-to-peer interactions with validators. This setup facilitates innovative research, development, and application integration across various domains.
Integration with Bittensor Subnets: The platform is crafted to work seamlessly with every subnet on the Bittensor network, promoting a robust ecosystem where miners and consumers benefit from shared computational resources and data.
For those technically inclined, Taoshi.io provides comprehensive guides on becoming a validator. This includes:
Setup and Configuration: From forking the repository to deploying on AWS Elastic Beanstalk, the process is streamlined for technical personnel.
Payment Integration: With Stripe integration for payments, it ensures a smooth transaction process within the network.
The unique Taoshi Network Model integrates strategies from top-performing miners into a unified trading strategy, dynamically adjusting based on performance. This not only reduces risk but also maximizes potential returns by leveraging collective expertise.
Beyond trading, Taoshi.io serves as a launchpad for various blockchain and DeFi projects, offering tools like:
Multi-chain and Cross-chain Swaps: Through wallets like TAIWallet, users experience efficient asset management across different blockchains.
Token Launch and Management Tools: Platforms like Toshi Tools provide functionalities for token launches, airdrops, and more, enhancing transparency and investor confidence.
Taoshi isn't just about technology; it's also about community. The platform encourages artistic expressions that reflect its ethos, fostering a culture of creativity and continuous development.
Taoshi.io is not just another platform in the blockchain space; it's a comprehensive ecosystem designed to push the boundaries of what's possible in decentralized finance, trading, and data services. Whether you're a developer looking to integrate decentralized services, a trader seeking advanced signals, or an enthusiast interested in the future of finance, Taoshi.io offers tools, technologies, and a community to propel you forward.
As blockchain technology continues to mature, platforms like Taoshi.io will lead the charge, transforming how we think about finance, data, and decentralized systems.
Taoshi.io is at the forefront of the Bittensor revolution, focused on delivering world-class quant trading signals through decentralized AI.
Taoshi contributes to and leverages the Bittensor network, which fosters decentralized intelligence, using the Bittensor token ($TAO) for data and intelligence exchange.
The network model combines strategies from top-performing miners on the platform into a unified trading strategy, adjusting based on their performance and risk metrics.
While specific steps might be detailed in their documentation, generally, it involves technical setup, integration with the network, and meeting certain criteria set by Taoshi.
Miners are incentivized through a system where their influence and rewards are based on their performance, measured by returns and risk-adjusted metrics.
It's a marketplace for decentralized data and services within the Bittensor ecosystem, where users can register and access services directly.
Taoshi provides quant trading signals derived from collective AI intelligence, aimed at empowering users to make informed financial decisions.
The platform uses metrics like max drawdown to manage and assess risk, ensuring that miners' strategies do not expose users to excessive risk.
Through a competitive environment where miners' strategies are continually evaluated based on performance, risk management, and other criteria during challenge periods.
While not explicitly mentioned, platforms like Taoshi often provide documentation and guides for integration and understanding the ecosystem, accessible through their official site or related dashboards.
DISCLOSURE
CryptoBit Magazine is a leading media outlet dedicated to covering the cryptocurrency industry. Our journalists adhere to a strict set of editorial policies to maintain the highest standards of integrity and accuracy. CryptoBit Magazine operates with complete editorial independence, ensuring unbiased and trustworthy reporting on all aspects of the crypto world.
Nothing on this site should be considered financial advice. Always conduct your own research and consult with a professional before making any financial decisions.
