Buying the US Constitution
Plus, what is a damn DAO?
Hey folks!
Happy Thursday! Welcome to the bonus edition of the Tech Breakdowns. Quick recap, this past Monday, the format of the newsletter was different than usual. In Monday’s edition, I covered the tech news of the week in detail and said that the usual case-study based newsletter will return on Thursday. This is that newsletter. I am so excited to be writing this post because every once in a while, the internet comes together to do something cool and unprecedented. This week, the good folks of the internet are trying to buy the US Constitution and you can too!
Let’s get started!
Buying the US Constitution
When the United States of America gained independence from the British, the founding fathers drafted the constitution for this new country. In total, 500 copies were printed “for submission to the Continental Congress and for the use of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.”
Today, according to Southby’s (where the document is being auctioned), only 13 of those 500 copies have survived. And out of those 13, only one of them is privately owned. This one. The previous owner, Howard Goldman bought the copy for $165,000 to add to his collection of historical American books and manuscripts. After he passed away in 1997, his wife became the custodian. It is expected that this copy of the Constitution will sell for anywhere between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to The Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation that supports democracy education.
The group that is raising the money is named ConstitutionDAO and at the time of writing has raised over $40,000,000.
What is a DAO?
DAO, short for Decentralised Autonomous OrganiSation is a smart contract with certain rules that operate on top of a blockchain. Groups of individuals coming together to acquire assets is not something new, DAOs are different in three key ways. They are transparent, controlled by the organisation’s members and not influenced by central parties like governments. DAO’s have specific goals like the PleasrDAO that was created to buy NFTs or this one that is created to buy the US Constitution.
Do I really own the Constitution?
Technically, no. You are receiving a governance token, not fractionalized ownership. The governance token with the ticker symbol $PEOPLE gives you and the contributors the ability to vote on what happens to this copy of the US Constitution if the DAO wins the auction. (You can read more about governance tokens in this previous Tech Breakdowns post.) You can, however, trade the governance token you receive for USD or other cryptocurrencies.
The current plan of the DAO as listed on the website is as follows–
ConstitutionDAO is seeking an esteemed partner to publicly display the Constitution. The eventual home must have the expertise to properly house, store, and maintain the artifact. Additionally, 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.
If the DAO doesn’t win the auction, Ether will be returned to all contributors minus the fees.
Internet’s wholesome moment
Fuelled by Nicholas Cage memes, a project that was started by just a few volunteers now has over 17,000 members on its Discord server. If you’re unaware, one of the most meme-able people on the planet, Nicholas Cage, was the star of National Treasure in which he steals the Declaration of Independence.
The Internet can be a divisive place, but when people come together for a common cause, it can be beautiful. Just see the messages the contributors are leaving-
By the way, the most popular keyword on the DAO’s Discord chat is “WAGBI,” short for “we’re all gonna buy it.”
Trivia
As always, the winners get a shout out in the next newsletter. All responses are welcome and like always clues are available to anyone who asks. Reply to this mail with your answer or to get a clue.
Trivia for the week: I founded an internet company and a fin-tech company and today I am the CEO of both. I also have a very sexy beard. Who am I?
Last week, Dev B continued his winning streak and was followed by Urvi B. Well played! The answer? iPhone. The trivia was a quote from Steve Jobs during the keynote in 2007.
Last week’s trivia: ... It’s a phone. It’s an internet communicator. Are you getting it?
That's all for this week folks. See you next week!
Shobhit (@ShobhitJethani)
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