Would you chip in to buy a copy of the Constitution? A group of people on the Internet have a plan to do just that by way of something called ConstitutionDAO.

What's happening? The idea is for members of the DAO to pool their funds and bid on a draft of the Constitution. This particular copy was originally made for the Constitutional Congress back in 1787 and it’s going up for auction at Sotheby’s on Thursday. It’s the only surviving copy (out of 13) that’s privately owned.

As of this morning, over $40M has been raised to bid on the Constitution, according to DAO member and maker Julian Weisser, who also noted that donations have a "median contribution [of] $228.58."

How does it work? If you’re new to the term, a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) is a structure that uses blockchain tech to allow participants to self-govern. DAOs enable communities to decentralize authority and automate decisions through rules that are encoded in smart contracts that are stored on the blockchain. In the case of ConstitutionDAO, members join by contributing to the pool (you’ll need Ether) and then will be able to help decide what to do with the Constitution, if it is acquired.

“Governance includes the ability to advise on (for illustrative purposes) where the Constitution should be displayed, how it should be exhibited, and the mission and values of ConstitutionDAO,” explains the ConstitutionDAO website.

If the DAO loses the auction, the makers will refund all of the money. The website makes two things clear: this is not an investment and you won’t be gaining fractional ownership of the Constitution.

What else can DAOs do? Each DAO is different. For example, VitaDAO, which launched in June, was created for community members to fund longevity research. Members join by purchasing VITA tokens, which enable members to engage in decision-making around research funding and governance of the IP portfolio.

The crypto community is bullish on DAOs, while others have been critical of them, especially following an incident where one DAO, called “The DAO,” lost $50M in Ether after coding errors resulted in hackers stealing the money. Since then, makers in this space have poured a lot more thought into the governance of DAOs.

But why this? While ConstitutionDAO notes it’s using this technology to “honor and protect the greatest historical tool for human governance,” it seems fair to say that ConstitutionDAO, if successful, will also serve as a high-profile example of what DAOs — and communities with the right tools — can accomplish.

Skittish is now open to the public.

The tech community has been excitedly anticipating the “weird spatial audio virtual event space” from Andy Baio for months. Baio is a cofounder of XOXO, a beloved experimental festival that brings together makers and digital creators — or did, prior to a pandemic-imposed break.

Although this space is thick with competition, the quirky games, animal avatars, and cameras-off atmosphere help to differentiate this particular online playground.

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