- Tokens of the defunct DAO that tried to buy a copy of the US Constitution are worth $300 million.
- ConstitutionDAO raised $47 million last year but lost its bid to billionaire Ken Griffin.
- The DAO has since disbanded and returned the money, but its PEOPLE tokens still hold value.
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Tokens of the defunct DAO that lost its bid to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution last year currently sport a market capitalization of more than $300 million, as of Wednesday.
The DAO was formed late last year and raised $47 million from 17,000 crypto enthusiasts. Contributors received governance tokens called PEOPLE, which gave holders the ability to vote for what direction future efforts of the project might take.
The tokens now trade at $.05958 and see significant activity, with daily volume hitting $69 million over the past 24 hours. The high valuation is a head-scratcher given that ConstitutionDAO has completely disbanded with no intentions to pivot towards a new project.
After losing its bid to billionaire Ken Griffin, ConstitutionDAO decided to shut down and issue refunds to its contributors, giving them the choice to redeem their contribution (minus transaction fees) via ether or PEOPLE tokens.
And while PEOPLE tokens have no official use now that the DAO has shut down, they still hold a total market value of $300 million, about six times the amount of money ConstitutionDAO raised in its bid to buy the Constitution.
"Having lost the auction and following the core team's choice to wind down, we would like to remind you that the tokens possess no rights, governance, or utility other than redeeming them for ethereum from the smart contract held in Juicebox at a ratio of 1,000,000:1—the same ratio at which contributions were made to the initial crowdfund to buy the Constitution," a statement on the DAO's website said.
"It is also an option to keep your $PEOPLE tokens and do with them as you please—it is clear that there are parts of the community who wish to incorporate them into future projects. ConstitutionDAO cannot and will not endorse any future plans for the token," the statement continued.
The PEOPLE token is down 67% from its record high of $0.18 in late 2021, meaning the token briefly held a total market capitalization of more than $1 billion. Altogether, this episode highlights the froth seen in many pockets of the crypto and NFT markets.
The decline in PEOPLE tokens has come amid a broader meltdown in the cryptocurrency market, with the total market value of crypto falling below $2 trillion from a recent high of $3 trillion.