Yuga Labs Sells CryptoPunks to Nonprofit for $20M

Yuga Labs, once a dominant player in the NFT world, has been gradually divesting itself of various intellectual properties it owns. The company has already parted ways with Meebits, Legends of the Mara, and HV-MTL. The latest development in this trend is the sale of CryptoPunks to a newly established nonprofit foundation called the Infinite Node Foundation. This transaction occurred roughly three years after Yuga Labs acquired the rights to CryptoPunks from Larva Labs in 2022.

Last month, the Infinite Node Foundation was created with an initial funding of $25 million. According to reports, the foundation acquired the CryptoPunks for approximately $20 million. A spokesperson for the foundation declined to confirm this figure. The transition, as stated by the foundation, is not about ownership but about liberation. The foundation aims to free the CryptoPunks from corporate constraints, allowing the Punk ethos to thrive in a decentralized, community-driven future.

The Infinite Node Foundation was made possible through the generosity of VC Meyer “Micky” Malka of Ribbit Capital and Becky Kleiner. The foundation's advisory board includes prominent figures in the crypto art world, such as Wylie Aronow, co-founder of Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club, Erick Calderon, founder of Art Blocks, and Matt Hall and John Watkinson, co-founders of Larva Labs. Phil Mohun, who previously worked on crypto AI art group Bright Moments, serves as the executive director of the foundation. The exact number of other members in the foundation is not yet known.

The foundation plans to establish a 12,000 square foot permanent exhibition space in Palo Alto, CA, where the entire collection of 10,000 CryptoPunks NFTs will be displayed. This move is part of the foundation's broader mission to preserve and elevate digital art and onchain culture. While the CryptoPunks are the primary focus for now, the foundation aims to create a space for digital art more broadly in the long term.

The CryptoPunks are often considered the most historic NFT collection, having been launched on Ethereum in 2017 and now existing fully onchain. They are believed to have inspired the ERC-721 standard, which is used by most NFTs today. However, despite their historical significance, CryptoPunks are not as prevalent in mainstream modern art conversations. The Infinite Node Foundation aims to change this by promoting the cultural and artistic value of the CryptoPunks and digital art in general.

Wylie Aronow, in a post about the acquisition and subsequent sale of the Punks, expressed a sense of responsibility towards the wider crypto community. He stated that with the success of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Yuga Labs felt an obligation to step up and become stewards of the CryptoPunks, helping to preserve what had started everything. Aronow also noted that this deal gives Yuga Labs some additional space to refocus on its original goals and build what it set out to create in the first place.