Blockbuster’s Potential Revival Lies with a DAO

The now-defunct movie rental chain, Blockbuster, is looking to be bought by the aptly named BlockbusterDAO. The mission of the group is to “turn Blockbuster into the first-ever DeFilm streaming platform and a mainstay of both the Web3 brands and products."

The DAO is attempting to raise $5 million through the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) starting at 0.13 ETH (currently approximately $482) followed by a PR campaign with the last step being to make an offer to Dish Network — the current owners of the now-defunct brand.

BlockbusterDAO will register all the intellectual property in the name of the DAO if successful in their purchase.

"The Blockbuster brand is currently owned by Dish Network," BlockbusterDAO tweeted. "Another interested party has low-balled an offer of $1.8 million for the brand, but it seems that the price tag is going to be higher to beat out any counter-offers."

This is not the first time a group of crypto enthusiasts attempted to buy a company or asset with Krause House being a DAO formed to buy an NBA franchise. This comes along with the now-famous attempt by ConstitutionDAO to buy the Constitution. Sadly they were ultimately thwarted by Ken Griffin, the CEO of Citadel.

Blockbuster ceased operations in January 2014, finally succumbing to the years of slowly becoming obsolete, falling out of public consciousness as streaming platforms began to rise. Surprisingly, one Blockbuster store remains open in Bend, Oregon.

The DAO says its ultimate goal is to relaunch the brand as a decentralized streaming platform that creates original content. They want to become a leader in the DeFi film industry.