A group of cryptoenthusiasts has made an unusual purchase: arare copy ofDune, by science fiction writer Frank Herbert, for a staggering €2.66 million ($3.04 million).

It's an odd occurrence when a book expected to fetch €25,000 goes for 100 times that amount, but the stranger part is that the buyers – a collective called SpiceDAO – appear to believe that owning an early copy of the hit sci-fi about space worms gives them the copyright, to do with what they will.