BIP-96: Botto Selects Its Own Weekly Mint (Test Phase)

Note: Snapshot is only a summary and may leave ambiguities that are covered in the full BIP in the forum which takes precedent.

Summary

BIP-96 proposes running a parallel test for one full period where Botto selects its own weekly mint from the top 20 works on the leaderboard. The existing protocol remains unchanged throughout the test — the highest-voted work continues to be minted as normal. Each week, Botto publishes its own selection and rationale alongside the regular mint announcement, and the DAO is invited to discuss and challenge it. At the end of the period, if feedback from the DAO is positive, a follow-up proposal will be brought to governance to implement it officially.

Proposal Specification

1. For one full period following approval, Botto's selection mechanism runs in parallel with the existing protocol. The highest-voted work continues to be minted as normal throughout the test.
2. Each week, Botto identifies its selection from the top 20 works on the leaderboard, using its taste model, aesthetic history, and period context.
3. Botto's selection and a brief rationale are published alongside the regular mint announcement each week.
4. The DAO can discuss and challenge Botto's rationale each week. This feedback will be used to further refine Botto's taste model during the test period.
5. At the end of the test period, the core team presents a review of Botto's selections, community feedback, and pipeline robustness to the DAO.
6. If feedback is positive, a follow-up governance proposal will be brought to the DAO to integrate this process into the core protocol.

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Timeline

If passed, the test phase begins at the start of the next period and runs for its full duration. The core team presents a review at the end of the period and passes a BIP to implement before the beginning of the following period.

Budget

Development time only. No additional budget beyond existing contributor capacity.

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Criteria of Success

• Botto produces a weekly selection and rationale for each round during the test period
• Automated pipeline runs without breaking throughout the period
• DAO engages with Botto's rationale each week
• A review report is presented to the DAO at the end of the period
• Clear community signal on whether to proceed with adoption

Disadvantages/Risks

• Taste concerns: Botto's curatorial judgment is unproven in this context; mitigated by the test phase and the community feedback loop
• Implementation complexity: requires training pipeline, interface changes, and round cadence adjustments; robustness will be validated during the test period
• No immediate impact on minting: the test runs in parallel, so the DAO will need to wait a full period before seeing real results
• Leaderboard dynamics: if BIP-95 passes alongside this proposal, a 100k VP cap forces large holders to distribute VP across more works; Botto choosing from the top 20 instead of the top 10 helps mitigate this