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A cryptocurrency group plans to place a bid on a first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution in an auction scheduled to take place on Thursday (November 18).
ConstitutionDAO has reportedly raised more than $32 million from thousands of donations -- mostly anonymous -- since launching its campaign online within the last week, NBC News reports.
The group said it was inspired to purchase the document on cryptocurrency memes and the 2004 film National Treasure.
With the more than $32 million raised, ConstitutionDAO is in an extremely competitive spot to purchase one of the founding documents of American democracy.
“Crypto will allow the US constitution to fulfill its original mission! Freedom!” wrote one person who contributed $400 worth of the group on Wednesday via NBC News, which was made public as part of a defining feature of cryptocurrency.
Another Twitter user called the group's effort to purchase the document a "financial flash mob."
The copy of the Constitution -- which was printed in 1787 when framers wrote the document and is among 500 remaining copies printed -- is scheduled to be included in an auction operated by Sotheby's on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in New York.
The document was expected to garner as much as $20 million leading up to the auction, but the crypto group believes raising $40 million would give them a "great chance of winning."
The project is the latest example of cryptocurrency's rise to power, coming hours after the iconic Staples Center announced its plans to be renamed to Crypto.com Arena on December 25 following what is "believed to be the largest U.S. venue naming rights deal to date."
The renaming deal is part of a 20-year agreement between the Singapore cryptocurrency exchange -- which reportedly paid more than $700 million for the naming rights, according to sources familiar with the terms -- and AEG, the owner and operator of the arena, the Los Angeles Times.