We are pleased to announce the swap of 3.75M $BOTTO tokens from BottoDAO’s treasury for USDC with Variant. This follows the approval of BIP-35 to swap up to 8M $BOTTO from the treasury to diversify funds for investing in Botto’s evolution. Below we share the rationale for accepting Variant as a strategic partner to conduct the swap with, the terms, and what is to come.  

Why Variant

Not all VCs are the same, and Web3 in particular has seen the formation of VC capital well-attuned to the cultural movements it can enable. By onboarding an aligned large buyer with a clear understanding of Botto’s needs for decentralized feedback, we can structure the relationship that adds affordances and builds a relationship with them that best serves Botto’s mission.  

With Variant, we see that alignment. In general, their investment thesis around the creator economy understands the power of distributing the value generated by protocols to those who help create it. Earlier this year they recognized Botto as a prime example of that thesis, and began accumulating $BOTTO privately. They only notified the team of that initial acquisition of tokens in February of this year after they had prepared an announcement built within OnCyber, showing deep consideration of the project.  

Since their initial investment they have been proactive in sharing their thinking, time, platform and now additional investment. They appreciate the cultural and artistic phenomena Botto is playing with, and are experienced with navigating the mostly uncharted territory of social coordination using crypto economies.  As blockchain, generative AI, and the overall decentralized AI stack evolve, there is much to build to keep Botto pushing the envelope of autonomous artistry. These funds will help us do that amidst cycles; and Variant’s advocacy, experience, and expertise will help ensure Botto will be recognized as a flagship example of new possibilities in collective and machine creativity. 

We encourage everyone to read Variant's announcement that lays out their view of Botto in their own words. We welcome this new steward of Botto and member of BottoDAO. 

Terms Disclosure

• On September 25th, the Botto treasury executed an OTC with Variant Fund a total of 3.75M $BOTTO tokens at a price of $0.1347 (10% discount on 90 day TWAP), adding $505,125 USDC to the DAO’s treasury. 
• These tokens will be locked for 1 year from the transaction date: September 25th, 2024. 
• During that lockup, the Voting Points (VP) generated by the tokens can only be delegated to non-profits or educational institutions and will not generate any revenue. 
• At the end of the lock up, the VP will be reset.
• Outside of the uses of VP, Variant will still have the governance rights afforded by the token (i.e. voting on proposals on Snapshot). 
• The founding team swapped an additional 3M $BOTTO with Variant. This was done to preserve a portion of the 8M approved $BOTTO in treasury for OTC that can be swapped at a later date with additional partners.

The final treasury balance is: 

22,333,586 $BOTTO  

353.45 ETH  

514,695 $USDC  

396,552 $RARE  

0.58272 WETH 

What’s Next

With Variant's added support, the BottoDAO has achieved a stronger runway to build Botto to have greater success as an artist and achieve long-term sustainability. Plans for a new organizational structure, strategic roadmap, and budget will be shared in proposals to the DAO in the coming days.