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Crypto tokens rally as bid to buy US constitution copy raises millions - YAHOO FINANCE
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was up by more than 0.17% on Thursday morning, trading at $59,460 (£44,030).
The world's biggest cryptocurrency continued to hover below the key $60,000 mark, well off the all-time highs seen earlier this month.
Earlier in November bitcoin reached above $68,500 for the first time in its history, marking gains of more than 350% in the past year.
Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was up 0.1% to trade at $4,204.
Riding high was Crypto.com's CRO (CRO-USD) token which was up 25%, trading at $0.570015.
The coin has been rallying since Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency trading platform, secured a 20-year contract deal worth $700m with the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to buy the naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of basketball team the Los Angeles Lakers.
The rally helped to coin push into the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market value. CRO is now ranked at number 15, according to CoinGecko.
Crypto.com launched in 2016 and has steadily grown, hitting one million users in September 2019. It now boasts more than 10 million users.
The platform launched its CRO coin at the end of 2018. The coin was a "stand out performer in 2020", quadrupling in price and growing its users by 50%, according to CoinDesk.
The deal will offer Crypto.com more mainstream brand awareness, with the name change set to take place on 25 December when the LA Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets for a Christmas Day game.
“This partnership is about the future,” said Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of AEG.
“AEG and Crypto.com not only share a vision about innovation and the future of sports and entertainment, but we also have a shared commitment to our communities where we work and live. We look forward to partnering with Crypto.com to create meaningful initiatives to bring that vision to life in the years to come.”Scroll back up to restore default view.
In other crypto news, a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) group, ConstitutionDAO, is attempting to raise at least $20m in crypto donations to buy a rare 1787 copy of the US constitution at auction.
The group said it has already received more than $13m worth of cryptocurrency donations through its crowdfunder. ConstitutionDAO said it intends to buy the document using ethereum.
The item is one of 13 surviving copies of the US constitution, originally printed after the text was settled at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and will be publicly auctioned by Sotheby's in November. It is one of only two copies that are still owned by private collectors rather than held in the collection of an institution.
ConstitutionDAO said they "intend to put The Constitution in the hands of The People."
They group is "seeking an esteemed partner to publicly display the Constitution. The eventual home must have the expertise to properly house, store, and maintain the artifact [sic]. Additionally, the community has expressed strong preferences for institutions that are free to the public and willing to cover the costs associated with housing the document."
However, it is not clear how ownership will be arranged if the bid succeeds. The group said those who contribute will not get a share in owning the constitution but will receive a "governance token".
This can be used to could be used to "advise" on "where the constitution should be displayed, how it should be exhibited, and the mission and values of ConstitutionDAO", according to the group's website.
The website also says people will receive "refunds" if the auction bid is unsuccessful.
But it also warns of the possibility of hacking or of money being stolen, although it says "we have made everything as secure and foolproof as possible given the time constraints".
DAOs enable individuals to come together to make purchases and share ownership, with their transactions and operating rules recorded on the blockchain — the same underlying technology on which cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum run.
The legal status of DAOs is not clear, experts say.
Sotheby's told the BBC: "As DAOs are not legally recognised entities in most jurisdictions, Sotheby's requires DAOs to take certain legal steps to ensure the entity can participate in our auctions at this time."
The project has therefore formed a US limited liability company in order to make the bid.
