NFT ownership collaborative PleasrDAO says it purchased rare Wu-Tang Clan album

PleasrDAO, a collective of NFT owners, has purchased the rare “​​Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'' physical album by the Wu-Tang Clan.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the DAO purchased the album after the federal government sold it for $4 million in July. At the time, the government released no details about who the buyer was. PleasrDAO acquired the album on September 10, according to The Times.

Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli first purchased the album at a 2015 auction for $2 million. After Shkreli was convicted of fraud in 2017, federal authorities seized the album. The government kept it in a temperature-controlled vault in the basement of the Department of Justice, according to a Wednesday blog post from PleasrDAO. 

Wu-Tang Clan only created two “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” albums and placed extreme legal restrictions on them as a means of protesting the digitalization of the music industry. For instance, the album may not be commercially released until 2103, and it cannot be played or broadcast in front of large audiences. 

However, PleasrDAO intends to let non-owners of the album listen to its contents while respecting its legal parameters. 

PleasrDAO also owns various other high-profile (and high-value) NFTs. In September, the group purchased an NFT of the original Doge meme for $225 million. In April, it bought an NFT minted by Edward Snowden for $5.4 million.