Ep. 15 - ConstitutionDAO Retrospective Pt. 1

In this special series of the Juicecast in celebration of the 1-year anniversary of ConstitutionDAO, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by several former core members including Graham Novak, Alice Ma, Jonah Erlich, Ittai Svidler, and Jon Hillis. ConstitutionDAO was a single purpose acquisition DAO that raised over $40M in an attempt to buy one of the last thirteen remaining copies of the U.S. Constitution at Sotheby’s on November 18th, 2021. What started as a joke in a group chat onboarding thousands into crypto and gave the world a glimpse of the power of blockchain technology, decentralization, and new forms of governance. In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh trace the chronology of the events that took place from conception up until the auction at Sotheby’s. They also cover the history and significance of the Constitution itself, suggestions for where the document could have been displayed, as well as a last minute request from Sotheby’s that almost prevented the DAO from being able to bid at the auction. Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:44 History of the U.S. Constitution 00:01:49 What is the Constitution 00:03:46 1988 auction of the same copy of the Constitution 00:04:38 How ConstitutionDAO got started 00:09:21 End of Day 1, a true heist for public goods at the kickoff call 00:12:05 Communicating with Sotheby's and requirements for bidding 0013:25 Who would “own” the Constitution? 00:14:01 Federal Hall as a bastion of American History & venue for displaying the document 00:15:21 Choosing a fundraising platform 00:17:34 Days 4-6: Money starting to snowball, interviews with CNBC & NYT 0021:20 The power of deadly serious memes 00:22:27 Overcoming stagnant growth and finding a whale 00:24:50 ETH and FTX tank, and overcoming the last hurdle hours before the auction 00:28:12 Introducing Sotheby's Lot 1787: The Constitution, teaser for episode 2 Topics discussed: ConstitutionDAO Sotheby's The U.S. Constitution American history FTX Follow Juicebox on Twitter: @juiceboxETH Juicebox Protocol's website: juicebox.money Follow Matthew on Twitter: @0xmatthewb Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh Credits: Hosts: matthewbrooks.eth and brileigh.eth Production: matthewbrooks.eth and brileigh.eth Engineering: matthewbrooks.eth