A dozen or so buddies from the Internet gathered just lately at Sotheby’s in Manhattan to purchase a first printing of the U.S. Constitution (estimated worth: fifteen to twenty million {dollars}). The group, who referred to as themselves ConstitutionDAO, had simply spent a week elevating tens of millions of {dollars} on Twitter, TikTookay, and Discord from nameless display names: current immigrants, faculty dropouts, the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of somebody who fought in the American Revolution. (The “DAO” in “ConstitutionDAO” stands for “decentralized autonomous organization”—a leaderless company construction that resembles a web-based chat room with a checking account.) They raised 4 million in the first twenty-four hours. Then somebody pitched in one other 4 million, in Ethereum’s forex. By the subsequent night, the challenge had gone viral: seventeen thousand donors had given greater than thirty-three million (median contribution: $206.26). “I feel like I’m part of an organism!” a twenty-eight-year-old contributor carrying a inexperienced fur coat and leather-based sandals mentioned, excitedly, in the Sotheby’s foyer. “It’s fucking awesome.” Nearby, a man named Sean Murray, wearing a navy jacket, white breeches, and a tricorne hat, held up a selfmade signal studying “I’M BUYING THE CONSTITUTION.”

Another man walked as much as Murray and launched himself: “I was wondering if anyone else would show up!” Murray regarded down at his getup and mentioned, “I gotta be different, right?” He laughed. “I’m glad it’s a real-life thing. You don’t want to come out here and figure out it was Twitter bots the whole time.”

The merchandise the D.A.O. deliberate to bid on that night was one among solely 13 surviving first printings of the U.S. Constitution. It belonged to Dorothy Goldman, whose late husband bought it, in 1988, for a hundred and sixty-five thousand {dollars}. The doc—Sotheby’s Lot No. 1787—was typeset by David Claypoole and John Dunlap, in Philadelphia, on September 17, 1787. (Dunlap additionally typeset the first printings of the Declaration of Independence.) “It was a very labor-intensive process,” a Sotheby’s consultant mentioned, in a movie distributed to potential bidders.

On the third flooring, a number of of the group’s “core contributors”—the leaders of the leaderless group, who promised to return everybody’s cash if the group didn’t win—had assembled in a climate-controlled gallery to examine the doc, which was encased in glass.

“It doesn’t look like whatever million dollars it’s gonna go for. It’s just a piece of parchment!” a software program developer from Brooklyn mentioned. He wore a Fat Albert button-down and rainbow Pumas.

“The letter ‘S’—it looks like an ‘F,’ ” a man in a tan hoodie mentioned. “ ‘Blessings’ looks like ‘Bluffings!’ ”

Across the room, Liliana Pinochet, a seventy-five-year-old girl who had simply completed a most cancers therapy at a close by hospital, requested the group what they might do with the Constitution.

“We’re talking to museums about where would be best to host it,” Nicole Ruiz, who wore a lengthy plaid coat, mentioned. She defined that the donors wouldn’t really personal the doc, however would assist decide its future. “The whole group gets to vote!” she mentioned.

“I’m glad it’s not going to private hands,” Pinochet mentioned. “It’s a pity when things go to the banks.”

Upstairs, the group filed into the saleroom, the place, in a few hours, a Sotheby’s rep would bid on their behalf by telephone. “To have access like this is insane,” MacKenzie Burnett, a twenty-eight-year-old tech C.E.O., mentioned.

“It’s really funny to think about,” Theo Bleier, a high-school pupil, mentioned. “None of us are independently extremely wealthy—like, auction wealthy.”

At six, about 13 thousand display names gathered on-line to look at the public sale; one other sixty or so assembled at a co-working area in midtown for an I.R.L. watch celebration. Robbie Heeger, the group’s designated consultant, who had by no means participated in a large public sale, scribbled, “W.G.B.T.C.”—“We’re gonna buy the Constitution”—on a whiteboard. “Hello? Hello?” he barked into his iPhone. The name with the Sotheby’s rep had simply dropped. “What?” somebody yelled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Two minutes later, Heeger’s telephone rang. “Let’s fucking do this!” he mentioned. “Huzzah!”

The auctioneer began the bidding at ten million; inside seconds, a Sotheby’s worker holding a black phone receiver, who represented the hedge-fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin, raised it to thirty million. (Griffin is alleged to hate cryptocurrency.)

“Wait a minute,” Heeger wailed, flummoxed. “O.K., do thirty-one!”

Griffin countered with thirty-two million. A bidding struggle ensued: thirty-four million {dollars} . . . thirty-seven million {dollars} . . . thirty-eight million . . .

“Get the fuck out of here!” Heeger shouted. “O.K., let’s make it seem like we’re thinking about it. At the last minute, go for thirty-nine.” He paused. “No, forty!” He regarded round the room apologetically. “I think we’re totally maxed.”

The auctioneer mentioned, “We can bring the hammer up!” Heeger mentioned, “Just let it go!” Another fifty seconds handed earlier than Griffin positioned the highest bid ever for a historic doc: forty-one million {dollars}, or roughly one-fifth of 1 per cent of his web value.

Heeger hung up the telephone. Downstairs, a safety guard requested what occurred. Someone mentioned that their bid was about a million {dollars} brief. “Next time, you gotta call me,” the guard mentioned. “I could’ve loaned you that.” ♦



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