Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
In subnet 99, the subnet owner apparently bundled a staking extrinsic in a batch with the subnet-start extrinsic (this may not be true; I'm kind of putting together a bunch of pieces from the 99 and rao channels in the Discord). This effectively allowed the subnet owner to engage in a form of insider trading*: unwise "investors", seeing the new subnet, threw their stakes into it without knowing anything about it, and then the owner sold and made a profit.
* In the commonly understood/layperson meaning of this phrase, not as a legal or regulatory definition.
Describe the solution you'd like
Enable a sudo-level constant/variable for something like 'staking-start'. This is a pre-determined time, in blocks, after subnet start when no staking into or out of the subnet can happen. This establishes a known "trading start time" for everyone, and prevents owners from engaging in bundled-extrinsic insider trading (the staking extrinsic will just fail).
This will NOT solve the problem of "how to protect gamblers from themselves", which is not (I think) Bittensor's problem to solve. But it will at least prevent insider trading.
Describe alternatives you've considered
No response
Additional context
Originally, when Bittensor had a problem with people immediately staking into newly-registered subnets (without knowing what they were), the subnet-start call was introduced, and had a block time before which the subnet could not be started (hence the btcli s check-start command).
The block time has recently been set to 0, allowing the subnet owner to register and then immediately start the subnet's emissions. While I am not proposing that changes be made for the "safety" of people who are essentially gambling addicts (or their crappy scripted trading bots) or suggesting that Bittensor should focus exclusively on making the network a safe place for speculators, I'm proposing this as a way to create a predictable schedule (for those who bother to take the time to look) for when staking and unstaking will be open to everyone.
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
In subnet 99, the subnet owner apparently bundled a staking extrinsic in a batch with the subnet-start extrinsic (this may not be true; I'm kind of putting together a bunch of pieces from the 99 and rao channels in the Discord). This effectively allowed the subnet owner to engage in a form of insider trading*: unwise "investors", seeing the new subnet, threw their stakes into it without knowing anything about it, and then the owner sold and made a profit.
* In the commonly understood/layperson meaning of this phrase, not as a legal or regulatory definition.
Describe the solution you'd like
Enable a sudo-level constant/variable for something like 'staking-start'. This is a pre-determined time, in blocks, after subnet start when no staking into or out of the subnet can happen. This establishes a known "trading start time" for everyone, and prevents owners from engaging in bundled-extrinsic insider trading (the staking extrinsic will just fail).
This will NOT solve the problem of "how to protect gamblers from themselves", which is not (I think) Bittensor's problem to solve. But it will at least prevent insider trading.
Describe alternatives you've considered
No response
Additional context
Originally, when Bittensor had a problem with people immediately staking into newly-registered subnets (without knowing what they were), the
subnet-startcall was introduced, and had a block time before which the subnet could not be started (hence thebtcli s check-startcommand).The block time has recently been set to
0, allowing the subnet owner to register and then immediately start the subnet's emissions. While I am not proposing that changes be made for the "safety" of people who are essentially gambling addicts (or their crappy scripted trading bots) or suggesting that Bittensor should focus exclusively on making the network a safe place for speculators, I'm proposing this as a way to create a predictable schedule (for those who bother to take the time to look) for when staking and unstaking will be open to everyone.