Crypto company raises over $40 million to buy early copy of US Constitution
A crypto group using the imagery of a treasure-hunting Nicolas Cage has been raising cash to make a winning bid for an early copy of the US Constitution. The fundraising goal was originally $20 million. The company, called ConstitutionDAO, has already raised more than twice what it originally designed, and it’s done so in less than a week.
The rare copy of the Constitution is moving up for auction on Nov. 18. Sotheby’s, which is conducting the auction, expects the copy to sell for between $15 million and $20 million. This copy of the Constitution is an official superior edition, which Sotheby’s says is even rarer than a superior edition of the Declaration of Independence.
ConstitutionDAO is an authority expressly created to crowd-source enough funds to make a winning bid for the document. It’s sourcing the funds using ether, a cryptocurrency that runs on the ethereum blockchain. So far, ConstitutionDAO has raised more than $40 million.
A DAO, or decentralized autonomous authority, is a protocol, essentially a set of automated laws that runs in a blockchain environment. In this case, the ConstitutionDAO grants individuals to buy tokens that come with “governance” about the fate of the constitutional copy, should the DAO be failed in its bid during Thursday’s auction.
ConstitutionDAO says governance “includes the order to advise on (for illustrative purposes) where the Constitution must be displayed, how it should be exhibited, and the authority and values of ConstitutionDAO.”
Sotheby’s says the copy moving up for auction is one of 13 surviving issues of the official edition of the US Constitution. The copy was purchased from Sotheby’s by real estate designer S. Howard Goldman in 1988 for $165,000. Dorothy Tapper Goldman, Goldman’s widow, is the current owner. Proceeds from the auction will Help the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation.
Correction, Nov. 16: This story previously misstated the number of surviving issues of the official first edition of the US Constitution. There are 13 surviving copies.
