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Update 11/19/2021 8:17 AM ET: The group ended up raising over $40 million in Ethereum, but it wasn’t enough, with an unknown buyer outbidding them. Now, ConstitutionDAO is making plans to return donations to supporters. The original story follows below.
There’s a rare occurrence happening on Thursday, November 18. Sotheby’s, the premier auction house for art and collectibles, is auctioning off one of the rarest collectibles of all – one of the first copies of the U.S. Constitution that were ever printed.
That’s news on its own, as it’s only one of thirteen surviving copies from the original (roughly) 500 printed copies, and only one of two not held by a museum or other institutional collection.
That’s not the only news about this sale though, as a collective of crypto fans are trying to purchase it, pooling funds to raise the millions that Sotheby’s has as an estimated sale price. They’re called ConstitutionDAO, and they want to “put The Constitution in the hands of The People.”
I thought the Constitution was already in the hands of The People, but what it really means is they want to win the auction, display the Constitution where the public can see it without having to pay to enter, and without having to pay for the upkeep and security of the document.
That sounds a lot like a museum to us, and any “esteemed partner” that is able to meet those requirements would have to be on that level of institutional means, so this whole thing sounds like a weird publicity stunt for crypto.
Will they succeed? As of the time of reporting, the fund had over $5 million in Etherium donated towards the purchase.
None of that fund is going to the upkeep of the document once purchased, and neither is any going to the organizers of the fund.
They’ve still got a ways to go to reach the $15-20 million that Sotheby’s has as an estimated price for this priceless piece of history.
Maybe the crypto bros manage to get enough in the next two days, maybe they don’t.
Either way, this historical artifact is going to a new home. Maybe that could be the home of Nic Cage, immortalized in memes about stealing the Declaration of Independence. They’d look great next to each other, right?
Update 11/19/2021 8:17 AM ET: The group ended up raising over $40 million in Ethereum, but it wasn’t enough, with an unknown buyer outbidding them. Now, ConstitutionDAO is making plans to return donations to supporters.
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