In a significant move for the digital art space, the Infinite Node Foundation (NODE), a nonprofit dedicated to digital art, has officially acquired the intellectual property rights to the CryptoPunks non-fungible token (NFT) collection from Yuga Labs.
The announcement, made via NODE’s official X account, revealed that alongside the acquisition, the foundation has received a $25 million endowment. NODE now claims the title of the most well-funded nonprofit in the U.S., exclusively focused on digital art.
The Infinite Node Foundation (NODE) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the intellectual property of @cryptopunksnfts from @yugalabs.
Launched by Larva Labs in 2017, CryptoPunks are widely regarded as the catalyst for the modern digital art movement. Their $3.07B in sales… pic.twitter.com/RQ6apT8A3o
— NODE (@nodefnd) May 13, 2025
While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, NODE emphasized that the transfer of CryptoPunks’ IP marks a new chapter for one of the most iconic NFT collections. CryptoPunks, consisting of 10,000 algorithmically generated pixel-art avatars, has a market capitalization nearing $1.2 billion as of May 13, according to CoinGecko data.
To oversee the future of the collection, NODE has assembled an advisory board featuring CryptoPunks’ original creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson, a Yuga Labs representative, and other digital art stakeholders.
“NODE exists to build networked architecture for digital works like CryptoPunks to be studied, exhibited, and contextualized within the art-historical canon,” NODE stated.
Launched in 2017 by Larva Labs — co-founded by Hall and Watkinson — CryptoPunks has since recorded over $3 billion in total sales. In 2022, one of the NFTs sold for nearly $24 million, marking the highest-grossing sale in the collection’s history.
The acquisition also comes just months after Yuga Labs announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had officially closed its investigation into the company — a decision the firm described as a “huge win for NFTs.” Notably, in April, Yuga Labs escalated its legal battle by demanding $400,000 from several influencers’ cryptocurrency wallets. This move is part of an ongoing lawsuit related to the alleged unauthorised use of BAYC NFTs.
With this latest move, NODE aims to preserve and promote CryptoPunks as a landmark in digital art history, while fostering its evolution in the broader cultural and artistic landscape.
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