In September 1787, printers made 500 copies of the U.S. Constitution.

Only 13 out of the 500 copies remain.

Of those remaining 13, 11 of them are at places like the Library of Congress.

That leaves only two in private collections.

It’s been decades since one of these copies went up for sale.

So when Sotheby’s announced its intention to auction a copy of the U.S. Constitution, the world took notice.

And a group of crypto entrepreneurs hatched a brilliant plan to purchase it.

The Next Big Trend in Crypto

ConstitutionDAO formed to crowdfund the purchase of a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

The crypto network raised over $42 million in a matter of days from 17,000 participants, who each contributed an average of $206.26 in Ethereum.

This seemed more than enough given that Sotheby’s estimated the copy would sell between $10 million to $15 million.

Sotheby’s said: “This is the largest crowdfund for a physical object that we are aware of — crypto or fiat.”

But “we the people” of the DAO didn’t win the bidding war.

Unfortunately, Citadel founder Ken Griffin outbid it.

You might recognize his hedge fund’s name. Some people have accused it of partnering with Robinhood and profiting off the little guy’s orders.

So, the DAO was unsuccessful.

But this could be the next big trend in crypto…

Like an LLC for the Internet Age

A DAO (pronounced “dow”) is short for decentralized autonomous organization.

It’s an online organization founded for a common purpose.

It allows for the formation of an online community that can pool funds. Computer code can govern those funds.

Think of DAOs like an LLC for the internet age.

There are DAOs dedicated to purchasing rare NFTs (such as CryptoPunks or Bored Apes).

Members can have a stake in these rare digital items for a small investment.

There are DAOs that invest in decentralized finance to earn higher yields.

There are also DAOs that purchase real-world items.

For example, PleasrDAO bought a rare Wu-Tang Clan album for $4 million.

(Your editor would have liked to be a part of this one!)

A New Form of Online Governance

Sometimes, DAOs require ownership of a specific NFT.

This is possible with new apps that use your digital wallet to verify access to a website or Discord server.

And some of these NFTs are more expensive than the ritziest golf club in Palm Beach, Florida.

There’s a lot of excitement around DAOs right now.

One nearly purchased a copy of the U.S. Constitution!

Even though it failed, a new form of online governance was born.

Regards,

Ian King cryptocurrency bitcoin expert at banyan hill publishing signature

Ian King

Editor, Strategic Fortunes

 

Morning Movers


From open till noon Eastern time.

 

Telecom Italia S.p.A. (OTC: TIIAY), Italy’s largest telecom operator, is up 30% this morning on the news that it has received a $12 billion offer from global investment firm KKR to take the company private.

 

Vonage Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: VG), the cloud-based telecom company, is up 25% after the announcement that it has agreed to be acquired by networking and telecom giant Ericsson for $6.2 billion.

 

Astra Space Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTR) is a space launch company that is up 23% on the celebration of its first commercial orbital launch for the United States Space Force late Friday night.

 

MultiPlan Corp. (NYSE: MPLN) provides data analytics and technology-enabled cost management and payment solutions to the health care industry. It is up 23% on a bounce-back as investors saw a buying opportunity after the stock trended downward last week.

 

Navitas Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: NVTS), the semiconductor maker, is up 13% today thanks to some positive press about the company being honored at the CES 2022 trade convention for its next-generation gallium nitride power integrated circuits.

 

Enel Chile S.A. (NYSE: ENIC) is a Chilean electrical utility company that is up 13% today. The stock is being pushed up by the general surge in the Chilean markets that came after the first round of the presidential elections, in which the far-right José Antonio Kast was positioned as the winner.

 

Aeva Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AEVA) develops 4D lidar-on-chip solutions that enable the adoption of lidar across various applications. It is up 13% today but has no particular news to report.

 

Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) is a Chilean bank that is also up 12% today along with other Chilean stocks thanks to the results of the first round of presidential elections that took place on Sunday.

 

Canoo Inc. (Nasdaq: GOEV) is an electric car maker that is up 11% today. The move seems to be driven by its great Q3 results from last week, and by having its designs referenced by Apple in its push to design an autonomous vehicle.

 

Franchise Group Inc. (Nasdaq: FRG) operates as a retailer, franchisor operator and acquirer of franchised and franchisable businesses. It is up 11% on its acquisition of W.S. Badcock, a home furnishings company valued at $580 million.

 

RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX) is a Chinese company that makes and sells e-vapor products. It is up 11% today but has no significant news driving the move.