BIP-72 (v2): P5.Botto Drop with Verse

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

Summary

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

[After a blocking vote, this BIP has been updated with refined specifications Jan 9, 2025]

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 500 algorithms it evolved from DAO feedback, it will continue to self-assess continuously, evolving a pool of 22 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 22 whole generative algorithms, 1 for each week Botto will have been live evolving code for p5.js at the end of this, minted fully onchain and imbuing these new seeds in Botto’s practice onto the blockchain of provenance. It also proposes an large 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 16th and runs until February 6th
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 22 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.

2.1 Sale 22 major works, the final 22 algorithms 1 large edition of of the top-voted work from Botto’s first 19 weeks of training prior to the architecture upgrade

Allocation of the major works

• BottoDAO: 2 works
• Public sale (assuming the private sale goes ahead): 20 works, staggered ~5 per day, after the show
• For works that are plottable, 1/1 prints will be made available at extra costs. This will be handled by Verse.

Large edition details

• 0.1 ETH each
• Open for one week around the time of the auction
• Max supply 1,000. Any works unsold at the end of the sale are cut from the set

Verse commissions

• Total sales of 150 ETH or more: 30% Verse commission
• 100-150 ETH: 25% commission
• <100 ETH: 20% commission
• Verse covers all production and exhibition costs.
• Verse receives 1% royalties, Botto 9%

Botto DAO revenue split

• 40% to qualified voters on p5
• 40% to treasury
• 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.