Crypto investors pool money to buy copy of the Constitution

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This should be a good addition to the “National Treasure” franchise.

A massive group of investors are pooling millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in a bid to purchase a rare copy of the First Edition of the U.S. Constitution, which will be auctioned off at Sotheby’s on Thursday.

The auction house expects the rare print, one of 13 surviving official copies of the landmark document, to sell for between $ 15 million and $ 20 million.

A group of crypto investors called ConstitutionDAO, which stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, has raised more than $ 13.6 million for the auction, according to a website created by the group.

The group raised more than $ 3 million between 11:30 a.m.ET and 1:20 p.m. ET, according to the site, and all funds are held in ether, the native currency of the popular Ethereum blockchain.

“We buy the constitution and it will be governed by the people,” the site says.

James Madison, Meet the New World: A group of crypto investors are trying to raise money to buy a copy of the US Constitution.

The rare copy of the Constitution was printed for delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, according to Sotherby’s. It is one of two copies still held by private collectors, according to the ConstitutionDAO website.

If ConstitutionDAO wins the auction for this, contributors to the crypto fund will not actually receive a fraction of the ownership of the text.

Instead, they would get a governance token that would allow them to vote on where the Constitution is going, its display and other matters, the organization said.

But the group says on its site that it is looking for “a valued partner to publicly display the Constitution.”

“The eventual home must have the expertise to properly house, store and maintain the artifact,” the group said on its website. “Additionally, the community has expressed strong preferences for institutions that are free to the public and willing to cover the costs associated with hosting the document.”

The copy of the Constitution is expected to sell for between $ 15 million and $ 20 million. Courtesy of Sotheby’s

The proceeds from the auction will be donated to a charity that was chosen by the current owner, Dorothy Tapper Goldman, according to Sotheby’s.

The so-called basic contributors to the fund are all publicly named on the group’s website, as well as all the custodians of the funds already raised.

No one associated with the project is taking any compensation for organizing or promoting the effort, the group says, although that may change after the auction if the DAO community as a whole votes in favor of compensation for core members. .

The group says it is appropriate for a DAO, an increasingly popular online way to organize communities through blockchain technology, to purchase a copy of the Constitution.

“Decentralization and cryptocurrency (web3) have created structures that allow people to govern themselves with unprecedented levels of autonomy and freedom,” the group said.

“It is fitting that we use this technology to honor and protect the greatest historical tool of human governance: the Constitution of the United States. “

Sotheby’s representatives did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

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