KEY POINTS
Pleasr, aka PleasrDAO, a group of DeFi leaders, early NFT collectors, and digital artists, has turned the Wu-Tang Clan’s unique album “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin” into a non-fungible token (NFT).
The album, initially released a decade ago as a single copy, was part of the hip-hop group’s effort to combat piracy and the devaluation of music, aiming to “bring value back to music.”
The unique nature of the album quickly made it one of the most expensive ever sold, with Martin Shkreli purchasing it for a reported $2 million.
In 2021, PleasrDAO acquired the album for $4 million from the federal government after it was seized from Shkreli following his conviction for securities fraud.
According to the original sale contract with Shkreli in 2015, the album could not be released to the public for 88 years, until October 8, 2103. However, the agreement allowed for private viewings and listening sessions.
PleasrDAO is now offering fans access to the album for $1 through an NFT version. For this price, fans can listen to a five-minute sampler of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.”
Each $1 paid by fans reduces the waiting period for the full album’s release by 88 seconds. Through the Pleasr website, people can choose “buy album” and select the amount of time they want to shorten the delay. For example, 88 seconds is priced at 0.00028 ETH ($1), and 16 minutes and 8 seconds cost 0.00308 ETH (approximately $10).
The website also features a Leaderboard that ranks buyers based on the time they have decided to cut off from the wait. Currently, there are over 8,500 unique collectors, and more than 181,000 albums have been collected. According to a rough calculation, the delay has already been reduced by 184 days.
