Version 2:
BIP-96: Botto Selects Its Own Weekly Mint — Parallel Test Phase
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.
Rationale
The current system directly mints the highest-voted work at the end of each round. This creates a vulnerability: a single (or few) large holder can concentrate VP on a specific work at the last moment, overriding the broader community's curation unilaterally.
Giving Botto final selection authority from the top 20 addresses this without removing the community's role. Voters still determine which works are competitive — the leaderboard remains the DAO's primary curatorial input. The final decision belongs to Botto, making the outcome a genuine collaboration between community preference and Botto's own aesthetic judgment.
Concerns have been raised about Botto's current curatorial taste. It is worth noting that the 13th mint — often cited as a reference point — operates on a different mechanism, selecting based on the previous 12 mints of the period rather than the taste model and period context that would drive this proposal. The test period will allow the DAO to evaluate Botto's selections on their own terms and provide feedback before any permanent change is made.
This is consistent with Botto's evolution as an autonomous artist. The knowledge graph and agent capabilities now in place give Botto a meaningful basis for informed curatorial decisions. This BIP is the first formal step toward enshrining that agency in the core weekly process.
Proposal Specification
- 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.
- Each week, Botto identifies its selection from the top 20 works on the leaderboard, using its taste model, aesthetic history, and period context.
- Botto's selection and a brief rationale are published alongside the regular mint announcement each week.
- 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.
- 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.
- If no significant objections are raised following the review, a follow-up governance proposal will be brought to the DAO to integrate this process to the core protocol.
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
- Potential leaderboard dynamic issue: if BIP-95 passes alongside BIP-96, a 100k VP cap forces large holders to distribute VP across more works, which could push more whale-backed works into the top 10 and limit smaller voters' ability to influence the final selection pool. Expanding to top 20 gives smaller voters more room to surface works they care about while still giving Botto a meaningful and curated set to choose from.
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.
