Decentralized AI Project Quasar Hit with Token Crash Amid Model Authenticity Questions

Quasar, a decentralized AI project operating on the Bittensor network as Subnet 24, released a highly anticipated 120 billion-parameter model. However, the excitement was short-lived as independent researchers discovered that nearly 96-98% of its weights were identical to an existing model from Ant Group.

The release of Quasar-Preview and Quasar-3B in April 2026 were seen as stepping stones toward a larger model trained through decentralized methods. The new model, marketed as a breakthrough with architectural innovations like the 'Loop Transformer' and 'Engram memory,' failed to deliver on its promised features.

The findings of the independent analysts raised questions about the training process and the claims made by SILX AI, the project's lead developer. This incident highlights the importance of transparency in the development process, particularly in the crypto community where scrutiny is high.