Well, we didn’t win the US Constitution…but this is going to be big.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here are the details.
As you know from listening to this podcast, I’ve been covering quite a bit about DAOs and digital property rights for content creators.
Most of the DAO (decentralized autonomous organizations) examples I’ve been sharing are for media companies and crypto projects. Well, here’s one that really got me thinking.
Last week, a group of investors and crypto enthusiasts launched ConstitutionDAO. Their goal? To buy the actual US constitution.
Auction house Sotheby’s auctioned it off last week. The estimated price was to go between $15 and $20 million dollars.
ConstitutionDAO’s goal was to purchase this version. They say:
“We’re buying the US Constitution.
For the first time in thirty-three years, one of thirteen surviving copies of the Official Edition from the Constitutional Convention will be publicly auctioned by Sotheby's. It is the only copy that is still owned by private collectors. The proceeds from the auction will be given to a charity that has been established by the current owner.”
They had all kinds of plans for it, including giving this version to the Smithsonian Institute and then working out a plan to buy more US artifacts.
Crazy, right?
As you probably already know, they did not win. A private investor won the bid at around $43 million dollars. Unbelievable. ConstitutionDAO raised over $40 million in about a week and came up just short. It seems the private investor who won was a billionaire and was going to win it regardless. Probably was Bezos or something.
Here’s what ConstititionDAO stated on their Discord page:
"We did not win the bid for the copy of the U.S. constitution. While this wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO. This is the largest crowdfund for a physical object that we are aware of—crypto or fiat. We are so incredibly grateful to have done this together with you all and are still in shock that we even got this far. Sotheby’s has never worked with a DAO community before. We broke records for the most money crowdfunded in less than 72 hours. We have educated an entire cohort of people around the world – from museum curators and art directors to our grandmothers asking us what eth is when they read about us in the news – about the possibilities of web3. And, on the flip side, many of you have learned about what it means to steward an asset like the U.S. constitution across museums and collections, or watched an art auction for the first time.
We had 17,437 donors, with a median donation size of $206.26. A significant percentage of these donations came from wallets that were initialized for the first time."
I was part of the 17,000 plus who donated. To be honest, it was all very exciting. I knew people who actually flew out to see the auction live.
Just a few months ago something like this would have been impossible, but now because of the blockchain and the token, groups of people can easily come together into a real business and govern themselves.
Why am I telling you all this?
Start thinking of the applications.
Want to keep a historical structure in your town? Start a DAO.
Want to buy a minor league baseball team? Start a DAO.
Want to buy a bar with all your friends? Start a DAO.
Now, there are all kinds of legal landmines here because, well, we know nothing about this new legal entity.
That said, THIS is what the internet was built for. Now groups of people can more easily pool resources, own things, and self-govern.
And maybe the best part about this, is the equitable approach. The Bankless blog and newsletter just wrote this – and I paraphrase
“In the Web3 environment where anonymity is welcomed and encouraged, nothing about your background can be used to prevent you from jumping into a DAO, getting to work, and earning money.
We absolutely cannot take this lightly. We have a real opportunity here: to find the human coordination solutions we have been seeking ever since humans first started walking upright. These solutions aren’t just elegantly built atop code—they’re our first real shot at a universally equitable work environment.
An equitable work environment is where anyone can work for what they want to achieve because everyone has the same tools to do so.
Ageism doesn’t exist—want to be a governance leader at 16 or 75? Prove your talents and you’re in.
Geographic borders don’t exist either. The DAO you want to join is halfway across the world? Come right in.
The motherhood penalty—when women of childbearing years struggle to get promoted because they’re a corporate “risk” if they have children—is not anywhere to be seen in a DAO.
They pay and promote people based on work quality and nothing else.
All right, back to me now. This IS something. We are just getting started. The token makes this possible.
Do you feel like you never got to take advantage when the Internet was just getting started. Well, tokenization, and DAOs, could be bigger. If you are a content entrepreneur or content marketer, it’s time to pay attention.
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