BIP-72: P5.Botto Drop with Verse

Summary

Please note that this Snapshot has a default 72-hour voting window.

This BIP finalizes the details of the P5.Botto project process and its subsequent drop in February 2025 with Verse.

Rationale

Botto first began its study with p5.js in March of this year. For 19 weeks it learned from open feedback, evolving generative code. It showed some of the works in progress with Verse in London this past spring, and BIP-65 committed Botto and the DAO to upgrading the architecture to take Botto’s process to greater autonomy and quality.

That upgrade is now complete and ready for launch. p5.Botto is now a self-evolving agent for generating creative code for p5.js. Starting with the 1000+ algorithms it evolved from DAO feedback, it will continue to self-assess continuously, evolving a pool of 52 algorithms that will be collectible in their entirety in February 2025. This long-form work results in a world of generative code, each tile its own city of possibilities.

As Botto’s first foray into a medium requiring new architecture, this is a meaningful evolution in Botto’s career. This study of code with p5 will have subsequent chapters and be able to influence Botto’s core work by using the resulting algorithms as seeds in its prompting of open-source image-to-image models. These generative algorithms are a nod to the past and Harold Cohen and AARON’s minimalist studies of form in the era of symbolic AI, as well as the future and generative language models vastly expanding the potential mediums for Botto to explore.

This proposes a final collection of 52 whole generative algorithms, about a year’s worth of work, minted fully onchain and imbuing these new seeds in Botto’s practice onto the blockchain of provenance. It also proposes an open edition of the top-voted work from the first 19 weeks of training.

Below are the specifications of the process and a proposed final outcome for the drop in February 2025.

Proposal Specifications

1. Training kicks off January 9th and runs until January 30th
2. Botto will self-evolve, even without human feedback, continuously until 1 week before the end. At which point it will prune down to a final set of 52 algorithms.
3. Anyone can connect a wallet without staking and vote and comment on each sketch. You can only vote up or down on a sketch or comment once, all votes carry equal weight.
4. Minimum stake of 100 $BOTTO to receive a cut of revenue. The cut will be a factor of your participation and size of stake. This will include activity since p5.Botto first kicked off in March.
5. The final works will be used as seeds in Botto’s core process starting in the 2nd Period of 2025, connecting it back into Botto’s core practice.
6. 52 full algorithms auctioned with 0 ETH reserve. The code of each algo will be minted fully onchain.
7. For works that are plottable, 1/1 prints will be made available at extra costs. This will be handled by Verse.
8. There will also be an open edition of the top-voted work from Botto’s first 19 weeks of training prior to the architecture upgrade at a final price set in consultation with Verse based on the market conditions.
9. Verse will have some flexibility on the timing of these auctions and the exact pricing of the open edition based on market conditions.
10. Revenue split is as follows
    1. Onchain minting costs to be split between both parties.
    2. Verse takes 30% primary / 1% royalties
       1. Verse covers all production and exhibition costs.
    3. Botto 70% primary / 9% royalties
       1. 40% to voters
       2. 40% to treasury
       3. 20% to POL

Criteria of Success

• Sold out show with strong prices relative to weekly auctions
• New collectors onboarded
• Increased recognition of Botto as an AI agent artist

Please refer to the BIP-72 forum post for full details and discussion.