1. Summary
This proposal seeks to launch a BOTTO + BOLD liquidity pool on Base in collaboration with The DeFi Collective (TDC), in alignment with the strategic mandate for Botto as approved in BIP-66, whereby it was recognized that:
- "Subsidizing onboarding within reason will help us capture attention in an incredibly competitive attention economy."
- "Crypto-native partners will be particularly helpful for the growth activities above, such as in Base ecosystem and offline activations to expand Botto’s user acquisition channels."
TDC is "a non-profit organization harnessing relevant on-chain and off-chain resources to support decentralized finance (DeFi) on its mission to transform financial services into a secure, transparent and inclusive public infrastructure." More information about TDC may be found here.
BOLD is Liquity V2's decentralized stablecoin built on Ethereum. BOLD is censorship resistant, immutable, and permissionless; accordingly, it is marketed as The Ethereum Dollar. And like Botto's core team, Liquity has been supported by 1k(x) as a partner/investor too - refer to the "Investor & Partners" section of their website here.
Specifically, it is proposed that Botto DAO donate $25K worth of BOTTO tokens to TDC from the remainder of the up to 4M BOTTO previously approved for exploring liquidy solutions in BIP-42. TDC would then match it with $25K worth of BOLD stablecoin from their treasury to launch a BOTTO + BOLD pool on Aerodrome under their purview.
Although BOLD is minted on Ethereum mainnet, its utilization is expanding to L2s as well. There is a growing supply of BOLD on Base in various liquidity pools seeking yield opportunities, with over $5M in total liquidity for BOLD on Aerodrome alone.
Considering the abovementioned synergies, TDC will incentivize and oversee a BOTTO + BOLD pool vis-a-vis its cut of BOLD emissions from Liquity V2's revenue as allocated to TDC's Protocol Incentivized Liquidity (PIL) initiative, such that liquidity providers (LPs) in the pool can receive AERO rewards.
TDC's PIL initiative is currently the second largest recipient of weekly BOLD emissions for PIL incentives, and TDC would remain committed to providing liquidity for BOTTO + BOLD under its permaLP arrangement, which it has previously executed with Liquity, Possum Labs, and PoolTogether.
2. Rationale
"Botto's design skillfully blends artistic elements with aspects of well-known DeFi protocols, including token governance, staking rewards, and liquidity mining, anchored by a core protocol token...These elements should be leveraged by the core team members and DAO holders to promote Botto within the larger crypto community...Botto’s art visibility significantly surpasses its presence in the crypto community." - Pepe for CyborgDAO, BILLION DOLLAR ROBOT: An economic analysis of Botto, January 16, 2024
Since the approval of BIP-63 nearly a year ago, Botto's user experience has expanded to the Base ecosystem. Although some growth has been achieved there, the vast majority of Botto's users remain staked on Ethereum and thus interact with training Botto via the app there, with over 30M BOTTO staked in the governance contract on mainnet. In comparison, less than 500K BOTTO is currently staked in the governance contract on Base.
As such, there remains a considerable opportunity to grow both Botto's presence and users on Base. This is coupled with the need to consider expanding BOTTO's onchain liquidity as Botto's liquidity mining program on mainnet approaches its end in October 2025.
Therefore, the launch of a BOTTO + BOLD pool on Base is proposed in collaboration with TDC, whereby $25K worth of BOTTO would be donated by Botto DAO to TDC. TDC would then match it with $25K worth of BOLD stablecoin from their treasury to launch the pool on Aerodrome under their oversight.
TDC can incentivize the BOTTO + BOLD pool from their cut of weekly BOLD emissions as received from revenue allocated to their Liquity V2 PIL initiative. This means that LPs in the pool can receive weekly AERO rewards as ongoing incentives. Per its June 2025 treasury report, TDC's bribing of the BOLD/LUSD and BOLD/USDC pools on Base "has proven highly effective, with both pools surpassing $5 million in TVL while maintaining strong, sustainable APRs." Accordingly, similar success may be seen with a BOTTO + BOLD pool on Base, thus helping grow the liquidity of both tokens in a complementary manner.
TDC would commit to allocating 20% of the BOLD it apportions for Aerodrome bribes to veAERO voters for the pool; as the AERO bribe multiplier is currently around 2X, this means LPs in the pool could expect to receive around 2X the value of BOLD used to bribe vis-a-vis AERO incentives. Note that the AERO bribe multiplier does fluctuate over time and is not a fixed figure.
To put this in perspective, in one week TDC recently received about $5K BOLD for its PIL initiative. TDC allocates half to Aerodrome bribes, so $2.5K were used for this purpose. Assuming a BOTTO + BOLD pool was in place, $500 BOLD (20% of $2.5K) would have thus been used for bribes to veAERO voters, so BOTTO + BOLD LPs would have received around $1K in AERO rewards that week.
TDC is open to this proposed collaboration as they recognize its potential to advance the growth efforts for both BOTTO and BOLD on Base. With a BOTTO + BOLD pool in place, there would an opportunity to draw users from both projects together and reinforce their collective visibility.
In summary, the rationale for this proposal is as follows:
- Expand Botto's presence and users on Base.
- Ensure sustainable liquidity after the LM program ends.
- Broaden Botto's visibility within the crypto space at large.
- Advance Botto's outreach initiatives to wider crypto audiences in collaboration with TDC and the Liquity community.
Governance and implementation considerations include:
- Up to 4M BOTTO was allocated for liquidity solutions in BIP-42, and significant runway remains to utilize this.
- At the current BOTTO price around $0.30, the $25K donation of BOTTO to TDC would amount to about 83.3K BOTTO, or just about 2% of the 4M BOTTO.
- Beyond the initial $25K donation of BOTTO to TDC, there are no further costs to Botto DAO for this collaboration; the BOTTO + BOLD pool will thereafter be incentivized via TDC's cut of weekly BOLD emissions from its Liquity V2 PIL initiative.
- Maintaining course demonstrates follow-through on both BIP-42 liquidity solutions, BIP-63 Base expansion, and Botto's strategic mandate as outlined in BIP-66.
3. Proposal Specifications
Donate $25K worth of BOTTO tokens to TDC. TDC will match with $25K worth of BOLD stablecoin from their treasury and launch a BOTTO + BOLD pool on Base via Aerodrome under their oversight.
TDC will commit to provide liquidity for BOTTO + BOLD in perpetutity under its permaLP program; although they reserve the right to change the pool venue in the future if it is less risky or more profitable for them, they would be incentivized to stay with Aerodrome if the pool LP tokens are eventually whitelisted for staking in Botto's app on Base for active rewards eligibility too.
TDC will commit 20% of the BOLD from its Liquity V2 PIL initiative that it apportions weekly for Aerodrome bribes to the pool. Since the AERO bribe multiplier is currently around 2X, this means LPs could expect to receive around 2X the value of BOLD used to bribe veAERO voters vis-a-vis AERO rewards, though this bribe multiplier does fluctuate.
TDC will provide recurring updates on the BOTTO + BOLD pool via its periodic treasury reports as posted on its blog, and would support ongoing outreach initiatives for Botto through its social media channels such as X via Twitter Spaces, etc.
Although there is no requirement that a BOTTO + BOLD pool be whitelisted in Botto's app as a condition for this collaboration to move forward, TDC would appreciate the consideration of such an integration in the future, particularly if the BOTTO + BOLD pool receives a lot of interest from LPs on Base and is ultimately successful. In that case, it is suggested that whitelisting be explored by Botto's core team by early 2026 if possible, and the approval of this proposal would serve as prior justification for moving forward on that without a subsequent DAO vote being necessary.
4. Criteria of Success
Governance Integrity
• Fulfills BIP-42 commitment to sustainable liquidity.
• Maintains DAO credibility through follow up action on BIP-63 Base expansion and BIP-66 strategic mandate.
Progressive Decentralization
• Fosters greater distribution of BOTTO supply to TDC and BOLD holders to expand Botto's presence and reach on Base.
Liquidity and User Growth
• Advances Botto's accessibility with stablecoin users vis-a-vis $5M+ liquidity for BOLD on Aerodrome.
• Facilitates opportunities for marketing and outreach of Botto in the crypto community with TDC's support, in alignment with growth related suggestions made in Botto's Billion Dollar Robot analysis.
5. Disadvantages/Risks
• Opportunity cost of allocated funds.
• Technical challenges in the implementation of the whitelisting of BOTTO + BOLD pool LP tokens for staking on Base for LPs to be eligible for Botto's ETH active rewards in the future, though this is not required as a prerequisite for this collaboration with TDC on the launch of the pool to move forward.
