An online group called ConstitutionDAO failed to acquire the last privately owned copy of the first edition of the U.S. Constitution in a public auction at Sotheby's on Thursday.
"The 'Official Version' of the US Constitution" was won by an unknown bidder for $41 million ($43.2 million after auction costs), meaning that the ConstitutionDAO is putting it "in the hands of the people" Historic attempt failed.
The announcement was made on the official ConstitutionDAO Discord. "While it wasn't the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight," the post read.
This copy was one of only 13 official copies of the Constitution from the Constitutional Convention. First purchased from Sotheby's in 1988 by the late real estate developer S. Howard Goldman for $165,000. His widow, Dorothy Goldman, sold it this year and decided to donate the proceeds to the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation.
A week ago, project participants began banding together as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to raise funds for the auction. In the hours leading up to the auction, ConstitutionDAO had raised more than $49 million in Ethereum donations via Juicebox, a community-owned platform for Ethereum-based projects.
The auction was broadcast live.
In exchange for donations, 17,437 backers received a governance token called PEOPLE. Instead of providing fragmented ownership, they enable token owners to vote on proposals around structure, governance, and operational direction.
Participants can now receive refunds for their donations through Juicebox.
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