The information about the ConstitutionDAO (PEOPLE) token is as follows: ConstitutionDAO (PEOPLE) is an ERC-20 token launched on the Ethereum blockchain, designed to facilitate a groundbreaking experiment in decentralized governance and collective action. Initiated in November 2021, the token was created to power a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with the singular goal of crowdfunding the purchase of a rare first-edition copy of the United States Constitution at a Sotheby’s auction. The project rapidly gained traction, raising over $47 million in Ether (ETH) from more than 17,000 contributors in just a week, showcasing the potential of blockchain technology to mobilize global communities. The PEOPLE token, deployed under the smart contract address 0x7A58c0Be72BE218B41C608b7Fe7C5bB630736C71, has a total supply of approximately 5.06 billion tokens and was programmed into Ethereum smart contracts to manage contributions and governance.

The PEOPLE token’s primary utility was as a governance mechanism within the ConstitutionDAO ecosystem. Contributors received PEOPLE tokens in proportion to their ETH donations at a rate of 1 ETH to 1,000,000 PEOPLE, symbolizing their stake in the collective effort. Had the DAO succeeded in acquiring the Constitution, these tokens would have granted holders voting rights to decide its fate, such as which museum would house it, rather than conferring fractional ownership due to legal constraints around DAOs owning physical assets. Despite losing the auction to billionaire Ken Griffin on November 18, 2021, the token persists as a symbol of decentralized community ownership. Post-auction, contributors could redeem PEOPLE for ETH at the original contribution ratio (minus gas fees) or retain it, with some choosing to swap it for a new governance token, We The People (WTP), though the DAO officially wound down shortly after.

Built with Solidity and leveraging Ethereum’s transparent infrastructure, PEOPLE integrates with tools like Juicebox for crowdfunding and is compatible with wallets like MetaMask and decentralized exchanges like Uniswap. The project was spearheaded by founders like Austin Cain and Graham Novak, emerging from a Discord chat, and operated as a non-profit tied to an LLC owned by two core members. Posts on X and official announcements highlight its multi-chain exploration, with traces of bridging to Binance Smart Chain (BSC), though Ethereum remains its foundational network. The token’s ecosystem reflects a broader vision of using blockchain for historical preservation and community empowerment, leaving a legacy as one of the first DAOs to collaborate with a traditional institution like Sotheby’s, even as its original purpose concluded.