How PleasrDAO bought the rarest album in the world and what happened next 🎧
In 2021, PleasrDAO — a group of collectors and crypto enthusiasts — purchased the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” for $4 million 💵
So, what’s the deal with this album?
• 31 tracks recorded in absolute secrecy over 6 years
• The album was conceived as an art object: a single copy, like a painting in a museum
• The disc was packed in a silver case and kept in a safe in Marrakech, like a treasure
• The album can’t be released officially until 2103
• Only private listening sessions for a select few — as stated in the contract
Originally, the album belonged to the controversial pharma mogul Martin Shkreli, who was convicted of fraud. After his arrest, the album was seized and put up for sale 🏷
Fun fact: PleasrDAO made an actual contract with the U.S. Department of Justice to buy the album — a unique instance of a DAO interacting with a government agency on such a level 🏛
So why did PleasrDAO do this?
They didn’t just buy the album as a collectible. Their goal is to liberate the music for the community, holding exclusive listening sessions and sharing snippets with fans. Soon, they plan to tokenize the rights to the album, making it accessible to a broader audience through blockchain 👥
Today, PleasrDAO is gathering the rarest artifacts of the Web3 era and rethinking who should own art in this new digital age. This case is yet another confirmation that DAOs can change the game in many different fields 😎
