ConstitutionDAO was a
decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) formed in November 2021 to purchase an
original copy
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. The group raised $47 million in
Ether cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
, but lost to a bid of $43.2 million in the
Sotheby's auction. The organization was disbanded later that month.
Auction and refunds
ConstitutionDAO raised $47 million in
Ether cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
, but lost to a bid of $43.2 million in the
Sotheby's auction. The organizers of ConstitutionDAO believed that they would have had insufficient funding to "insure, store, and transport the document" if they had made a higher bid.
The organizers said they would refund contributions, minus
Ethereum fees.
Weeks after the event, around $23 million had yet to be refunded, partly due to these fees, with one contributor reported as having to pay $70 in fees to donate $200, and another $70 to get it refunded. The median contributor had donated $217 to the project, and some fees were more than the value of the donation.
''
The Verge'' put the group's effort in the lineage of Internet movements like the
GameStop short squeeze earlier that year.
''
Bloomberg News'' wrote that the effort "showed the power of the DAO ... has the potential to change the way people buy things, build companies, share resources and run nonprofits."
ConstitutionDAO2
Another group of crowdfunders named ConstitutionDAO2 formed in 2022 to purchase a different copy of the original constitution, which was to be auctioned by Sotheby's. The group had only publicly raised $313,000 by the time Sotheby's postponed its December 2022 auction, though the organization had also raised private funds. The group considered an offer to buy another edition of the constitution from the same printing press.
References
Further reading
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*
External links
* {{official website, https://www.constitutiondao.com/
Decentralized autonomous organizations
Constitution of the United States
2021 in the United States