Crypto Investors Are Trying To Buy The US Constitution

A group of cryptocurrency investors are planning on buying a copy of the U.S. Constitution at a Sotheby’s auction Thursday.

The group, known as ConstitutionDAO, is a ‘decentralized autonomous organization’ (DAO) in which members buy into the group with cryptocurrency and receive voting tokens which are used to direct the group’s funds for certain goals. The express mission of this DAO, according to its website, is to buy one of the 13 remaining original copies of the U.S. Constitution and display it for the public to view.

The group has raised the equivalent of roughly $12 million of its $20 million goal in the cryptocurrency ether as of Wednesday morning. The organization has used its Twitter account, which it started in November and currently has nearly 20,000 followers, to advertise its mission and raise funds, and it will bid on the Constitution at a one-lot Sotheby’s auction on Thursday.

“We intend to put The Constitution in the hands of The People,” the group wrote on its website.

While members of the group won’t retain ownership rights of the Constitution, they will receive “governance tokens” which will enable them to influence decisions as to the mission of the group.

“Governance includes the ability to advise on … where the Constitution should be displayed, how it should be exhibited, and the mission and values of ConstitutionDAO,” the group wrote. “ConstitutionDAO is taking donations and donors are receiving governance tokens with no expectation of profit.”

It’s not yet clear where the Constitution will be displayed if the group successfully obtains it, and each member must vote on the Constitution’s fate, but according to the group’s website, “the community has expressed strong preferences for institutions that are free to the public and willing to cover the costs associated with housing the document.”