Latest news with #PleasrDAO
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
U.S. Government Reveals Seven-Figure Price Tag for Sale of One-Off Wu-Tang Clan Album: Report
The price tag behind the government's sale of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album has been revealed. According to Bloomberg, the Department of Justice sold the one-of-one Wu-Tang artifact for $2.23 million to WTC Endeavours Limited, a Hong Kong-based company, in 2018. For those who don't recall the knotty history of Once Upon a Time, 'Pharmabro' Martin Shkreli purchased the only copy of the 31-track album in a 2015 auction from Wu-Tang Clan for about $2 million. Later in the year, Shkreli was charged with securities fraud and convicted in 2017. In addition to his seven-year prison sentence, Shkreli also had to forfeit $7.4 million in assets. More from Billboard Kneecap Won't Face Criminal Charges Over Glastonbury Set Teen Planned to Attack Oasis Fans at Reunion Tour's Opening Night: Prosecutors Trey Songz Faces Police Probe for Allegedly Assaulting Cameraman at Long Island Restaurant The U.S. Attorney's office in New York announced in 2021 that the federal government had sold the album to 'satisfy the outstanding balance' owed by Shkreli, but the price tag was kept a secret until earlier in July. PleasrDAO, a crypto collective, is the current owner of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin after purchasing the album through an intermediary. The New York Times reported in 2021 that PleasrDAO paid an 'equivalent of $4 million in a cryptocurrency tied to the dollar' for rights to the elusive project. Last year, PleasrDAO turned the album into an NFT, which allows the public to donate $1 and hear five minutes from Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. While the album can't go to public consumption until 2103 (private listening parties are okay), each $1 purchase takes 88 seconds off the countdown. Billboard has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. Best of Billboard Diddy Judge Rejects Claim That Prosecutors Leaked Surveillance Tape of Cassie Assault Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100 Solve the daily Crossword
Hypebeast
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Sale Price of Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' Revealed
Summary Bloombergjournalist Jason Leopold has revealed the sale price ofWu-Tang Clan's elusiveOnce Upon a Time in Shaolinfollowing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2021. The album, previously owned byMartin Shkreliprior to his securities fraud conviction, was sold by the US Attorney's office in July 2021 to cover the forfeiture of his assets. However, the government did not divulge the buyer's name and price as part of 'confidentiality provision.' In October of the same year, the digital art and crypto collectivePleasrDAOannounced that they had acquiredOnce Upon a Time in Shaolinfor about $4 million USD in crypto. Leopold went through years of back and forth with the US government, who provided him with unseen images of the album and redacted documents due to 'trade secrets.' The journalist explained, 'The reason it took so long is that the DOJ still had to hand over other documents I requested, and I couldn't challenge the trade secrets and privacy exemptions until the agency finished its production.' Finally, Leopold received an unredacted copy of the album's bill of sale and purchase agreement. As it turns out,Once Upon a Time in Shaolinwas sold to WTC Endeavors for $2,238,482.30 USD — the exact amount Shkreli owed. WTC Endeavors was incorporated in Hong Kong in May 2020 but dissolved in March 2023. In June 2024, PleasrDAO filed a lawsuit against Shkreli claiming thathe had created and distributed copiesof Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. He was then ordered by a federal judge to turn over all the copies he made, as well as the names of any person that received a copy. While PleasrDAO is required to follow the same rules as Shkreli did when he owned the album (no streaming or distributing the album until 2103), the collective was able to turnOnce Upon a Time in Shaolininto an NFT. For $1 USD, interested fans can listen to five minutes of the record. As Leopold notes, each sale 'will speed up the release of the album by 88 seconds.'
