ConstitutionDAO lost because it could not bid past $40 million. The group had raised about $47 million in ETH, but it had reserved part of that sum to insure, store and transport the document, so when Citadel founder Ken Griffin bid $41 million at Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, the DAO had nowhere left to go. Griffin's final price came to $43.2 million with the buyer's premium, and the collective shut down five days later.
That short version skips the details that still matter to anyone trading the PEOPLE token it left behind: a budget anyone could read on-chain, a refund process that ran straight into Ethereum's fee market, and a token that kept trading after its purpose was gone.
A Crowdfund Built in a Week
The target was one of 13 surviving copies of the Constitution's first printing, and one of only two still in private hands, which Sotheby's estimated at $15 million to $20 million. A loose group organized over Twitter and Discord in mid-November 2021 set out to buy it and put it on public display, with roughly a week to raise the money.
They collected contributions through Juicebox, an Ethereum crowdfunding protocol. Anyone could send ETH from a wallet address and receive 1,000,000 PEOPLE per ETH in return, with no team allocation and a full refund option built into the contract. By the day of the sale, 17,437 contributors had sent roughly 11,600 ETH, and the median contribution was $217.
The speed was the headline. Few crowdfunds of any kind had raised that much that fast, and mainstream outlets reported the running total as it climbed.
Eight Minutes at Sotheby's
The sale took place on the evening of November 18, 2021, in New York, and bidding on the Constitution lasted about eight minutes, according to Fortune's report on the auction. Contributors followed along online, and many assumed the raise was enough, since it was over twice the high estimate.
The DAO's last bid was a $40 million hammer price. Griffin's side went to $41 million, and ConstitutionDAO stopped there. With Sotheby's buyer's premium added, Griffin paid $43.2 million, at the time a record for a book, manuscript or historical document sold at auction.
Why the DAO Could Not Go Higher
Four factors capped the bid, and each made the others worse.
- Costs after the purchase. Winning meant paying the buyer's premium, then insuring, storing, transporting and caring for a fragile 1787 printing. The organizers worked out the most they could bid while still covering those costs, and the answer was $40 million.
- A budget anyone could read. Contributions sat in a public Juicebox treasury on Ethereum, so the size of the war chest was visible to everyone, including any rival bidder with deeper pockets.
- An opponent with no fixed ceiling. Griffin, a billionaire bidding with his own money, only had to clear a number the whole internet could see, and he said afterward that he wanted the document available for public viewing in museums.
- Thin coordination. After the loss, Decrypt reported that core contributors had not communicated the bidding strategy, or even who was bidding for the DAO, which fueled anger in the community once the result came in.
What Happened After the Gavel
Refunds collided with gas fees
On November 23, 2021, the team announced the project had run its course and opened refunds through Juicebox at the original rate. Transaction costs often topped $50 at the time, which hit small donors hardest and left about $23 million unclaimed weeks later. The mechanics behind those costs are covered in the guide to Ethereum gas fees.
PEOPLE took on a life of its own
The token kept trading on its own momentum. It jumped about 200% on November 25 when a successor token was proposed, reached its all-time high near $0.185 in December 2021, and became a PolitiFi favorite during the 2024 election. The official ConstitutionDAO site says PEOPLE has no utility beyond redemption, yet it still trades near $0.008 as of September 2026, and the PEOPLE price prediction weighs what could move it next.
The Constitution went on public view
Griffin loaned his copy to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas in 2022 and then to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where it is on display through 2026. A follow-up group, ConstitutionDAO2, tried to buy a different copy in 2022 and had publicly raised only about $313,000 when Sotheby's postponed that sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did ConstitutionDAO bid for the Constitution?
ConstitutionDAO's highest bid was a $40 million hammer price. Ken Griffin bid $41 million and won, paying $43.2 million once Sotheby's buyer's premium was added. The DAO had raised about $47 million but kept the difference in reserve for insurance, storage and transport.
Did ConstitutionDAO donors get their money back?
Contributors could redeem PEOPLE through Juicebox for ETH at the rate they paid in, minus network fees. High gas costs in late 2021 made small refunds expensive, and many donors kept their PEOPLE instead. The official ConstitutionDAO site still lists redemption at 1,000,000 PEOPLE per ETH.
Why did Ken Griffin buy the Constitution?
Griffin said he bought the copy so Americans and visitors could see it in museums and other public spaces. He has since loaned it to Crystal Bridges and to the National Constitution Center.
What a Lost Auction Left Behind
ConstitutionDAO showed that an internet crowd could raise tens of millions of dollars within a week, and its loss showed the limits of a transparent, fixed budget against a single buyer with room to spare. The token issued for that bid outlasted the group, the refund rush and the auction itself.
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