This crypto group now has a shot at buying a rare copy of the US Constitution

A long-shot bid by a group of crypto users to buy a relic of American history has moved one step closer to reality.

On Wednesday afternoon, the organizers behind ConstitutionDAO said that they had achieved $25 million in donations -- already surpassing the original goal of $20 million -- for the auction, which is set to take place on Thursday. The auction for the rare copy of the U.S. Constitution is being organized by Sotheby's, and the donation goal was set based on an estimate originally put forward by the auction house.

The group -- dubbed a "financial flash mob" by the New York Times -- now says it has enough to make a competitive bid for the Constitution copy, though it says it plans to continue raising more funds should they be needed. Underpinning the group is a planned decentralized autonomous organization that will give token holders a say in the use of the document. To be sure, token-holders won't own a piece of the document itself.

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"It is incredibly important that we keep the magic going to position ourselves as the strongest possible bidder because we haven't won the auction yet," the organizers said on its dedicated Discord server. "Your collective continual efforts will ensure that we can securely beat out the competition."

The fundraising goal appears to have been achieved quickly, given that The Block had reported Wednesday morning on the roughly $11 million raised at that point. The effort is using a service called Juicebox to collect the funds, which are then being held in a multi-signature Gnosis wallet. The names of the mutli-sig holders were disclosed earlier this week. The actual bidding will be facilitated by a limited liability company in order to comply with Sotheby's rules. 

Whether the group will actually succeed in the auction remains to be seen.