DAO Snaps up South Korean Cultural Treasure that Dates Back to Antiquity
A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has bought a South Korean national treasure – in what represents a remarkable first for the nation’s culture and crypto sectors.
ChannelA reported that the national treasure – a miniature gilt-bronze shrine that accompanies another piece – had been put up for auction by the Kangsong Art Museum in January and has been bought by a crypto-powered DAO.
The piece dates back to the early part of the Goryeo Period of Korean history (918-1392) and is part of a set that comprises a trio of gilt-bronze Buddhist deities – in essence, a “home” for the three figures.
The cash-strapped Kangsong Art Museum had hoped to raise at least USD 2.18m for the shrine in January, as well as over USD 2.5m for the figures. However, the auction on the items had to be closed after no bids were forthcoming on either.
But the museum announced that the “Singapore-based” Heritage DAO had bought the shrine for an undisclosed figure – and had promptly donated 51% of the item’s ownership to the museum, where it will now be permanently displayed in its “physical form.”
The remaining 49% will be retained by the DAO, which will seek to make fractionalized ownership of the item available to its members. These members could then be free to trade their shares in the treasure as NFTs.
The museum was quoted as stating:
“We are grateful that Heritage DAO, a blockchain-based community of global culture lovers, has decided to make this permanent donation and the majority stake donation based on their love and interest in [Korean] cultural heritage.”
The media outlet reported that the DAO had been eyeing the bidding process back in January, but had evidently failed to meet the reserve price – mustering some USD 1.5m worth of
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