Yuga Labs Sells CryptoPunks to Nonprofit, Shaping the Future of Digital Art

The Infinite Node Foundation
announced Tuesday
that it has obtained “complete intellectual property rights” for CryptoPunks, one of the longest-standing and most renowned NFT collections, from Yuga Labs.

The Infinite Node Foundation is a newly established nonprofit focused on conserving digital art, launched by venture capitalist Meyer “Micky” Malka and Becky Kleiner. The organization boasts an advisory board filled with prominent figures from the Web3 community, such as Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow, Art Blocks creator Erick Calderon, along with Matt Hall and John Watkinson, who are known for founding Larva Labs—the pioneers behind CryptoPunks.

CryptoPunks is an NFT series situated on the Ethereum blockchain, launched in 2017 by Larva Labs co-founders John Watkinson and Matt Hall. This assortment includes pixel-art characters known as punks; owners may display these images as avatars on their social media profiles. It became notably popular among mainstream audiences and played a significant role in igniting the NFT boom during 2021.

In 2022, Yuga Labs, which owns the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series—widely considered to be the next significant collection set for widespread adoption—bought the rights to CryptoPunks for an unspecified amount. Following this acquisition, the NFT market experienced a complete collapse.

A report released in August by
NFTevening
indicated that the NFT marketplace
has been in such a dramatic downturn
since 2023 that 95 percent of them are considered “dead,” with the average NFT owner experiencing a 44.5 percent loss on their investment.

While Infinite Node did not disclose a purchase price for CryptoPunks, crypto news website
NFT Now
has reported
Several sources suggested that the nonprofit spent approximately $20 million.

“Malka stated in a press release that CryptoPunks initiated a cultural shift that merged coding, community, and business. The aim is to safeguard this iconic creation through top-tier preservation coupled with a perpetual fund, ensuring its longevity and simplifying access for researchers, curators, and enthusiasts alike,” he explained.

Hall and Wilkinson stated, “The Punks were designed with true decentralization in mind, becoming a key illustration of digital persistence and internet network impacts. The NODE Foundation came into being to elucidate and endorse these concepts as an innovative form of artistic expression, making them ideally suited as the ultimate enduring sanctuary for the Punks.”

Several museums already possessCryptoPunks in their collections, among them are the
ICA Miami
,
LACMA
, and the Centre Pompidou.