Why Crypto Users Should Learn a Lesson From This Naive DAO

The crypto industry does not only bring possibilities of investments, but also an infinite landscape of ideas for people who want to create a landmark, make something happen, build communities, and more. Some projects are a success, some make honest mistakes, and some make dishonest ones. There’s a little bit of everything and the limits […]
Julia Arvelaiz
Posted by Julia Arvelaiz January 24, 2022 3 Mins Read
The crypto industry does not only bring possibilities of investments, but also an infinite landscape of ideas for people who want to create a landmark, make something happen, build communities, and more. Some projects are a success, some make honest mistakes, and some make dishonest ones. There’s a little bit of everything and the limits […]

The crypto industry does not only bring possibilities of investments, but also an infinite landscape of ideas for people who want to create a landmark, make something happen, build communities, and more.

Some projects are a success, some make honest mistakes, and some make dishonest ones. There’s a little bit of everything and the limits can get blurry at times.

Dune DAO is an organization that innocently shared ambitious goals that many saw as too naive to support and were widely mocked. However, there is a lot to learn from their roadmap.

The Origin Story

Last year, DuneDAO wanted to bid for a copy of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune manuscript at a Christie’s auction. They hoped to raise a total of $500,000 to do so and hit $700,000, but the final price was way higher. They still managed to secure it through a member who paid the final price of over $3 million, which the organization then fundraised to repay him.

The Naive Crypto Mission

DuneDAO has been in the spotlight of a lot of mockery on social media. Some users find it outrageous that they paid such a high price for the Dune copy after it had been valued by Christie’s between €25,000 ($28,100) and €35,000 ($39,345).
Many people claimed it was all pointless since there is a digitalized copy of the book running wild and free on the internet since years ago. However, as the DAO explained later, these are “low-resolution, cropped and blurry scans of some pages,” which constitute “less than 10% of the book’s total contents which have never been seen publicly. “
Twitter users are full of crypto jokes and fast facts, but little research. They keep sharing this blurry and incomplete copy almost daily as a comeback line.
After the successful bid on the book, came the DAOs new goals:
  1. “Make the book public (to the extent permitted by law).”
  2. “Produce an original animated limited series inspired by the book and sell it to a streaming service.”
  3. “Support derivative projects from the community.”

This is what got the most stares. In the critics’ defense, the message was poorly phrased and opened the door to many interpretations. Most people questioned if the DAO members understood copyright or thought that buying the copy gave them the IP to Frank Herbert’s masterpiece.

However, the group is not as gullible as portrayed. In fact, the enthusiastic member who won the bid sought to get advice from his legal representation immediately after winning the auction. They were not able able to “reach an agreement with any of the rights holders involved in the creation of the contents of the artist’s book.”

The Next Chapter

After the bid, they needed to raise more funds. They decided on a $6 million target, “$3.8MM for manuscript after taxes, fees and legal $2.2MM for an animated content piece and other creative projects”. All the internet crypto memes did not stop them from raising $11MM in less than 12 hours after going live, almost doubling their minimum target.
Members of DuneDAO were inspired by the ambition of Jodorowsky’s masterpiece and they do not intend to let their goals go. Their roadmap is somewhat unclear to the public, but they do seek a lot of support from experts.
They later explained that “The book and the animation are two separate verticals of the DAO’s activity. They have nothing to do with each other.”
On the book’s side, they want to “make the book public to the extent permitted by law.” 
On the animation’s side, it is not their intention to infringe Dune’s copyright, rather the DAO is focusing on making an original animation that is inspired by Jodorowsky’s creation.
“While we do not own the IP to Frank Herbert’s masterpiece, we are uniquely positioned with the opportunity to create our own addition to the genre as an homage to the giants who came before us.”
Allegedly, they have received proposals from several successful Hollywood showrunners, partnered with strategic groups, and assembled a professional creative team. But even after careful consideration, bigger fish could always try to shut down their project due to the Dune franchise’s recent success.
Their efforts might meet complications in the future, but they have refrained from sharing precise details about what they’re making and it is hard to give a fair opinion on the matter.
Other crypto groups with similar ambitions might want to watch how this story develops from close, for it might bring a lot of insight.

Related Reading | Constitution DAO Lost Auction To $41M Bid, But Made History. What Happens Now?

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