CryptoPunks Join the NODE Foundation

The Internet's Most Valuable Art Project Returns With a Mission

The Infinite Node Foundation (NODE) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the intellectual property of CryptoPunks from Yuga Labs. This transaction places one of the most influential artworks of the 21st century inside an evergreen, mission-driven endowment and signals a new model for safeguarding internet-native culture.

Launched by Larva Labs in 2017, CryptoPunks are widely regarded as the catalyst for the modern digital art movement. Their $3.07B in sales have established Matt Hall and John Watkinson as the highest-selling living artists of our time. More than pixels on a blockchain, they changed the art world by existing outside of it and sparked a cultural shift that continues to reshape our digital world.

Now this pioneering collection of 10,000 unique, algorithmically generated pixel art characters lives within the most well-capitalized nonprofit dedicated solely to digital art in the world.

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A Networked Model of Stewardship

CryptoPunks were born free. This transition is about unlimited expansion and not about protection from corporate friction or limitations. NODE is here to carry the Punk ethos forward through an evolved model of stewardship, one grounded in three essential pillars:

Preservation: Ensuring the technological integrity and longevity of CryptoPunks through advanced blockchain infrastructure

Community: Fostering an engaged ecosystem that bridges digital innovators and art enthusiasts

Expansion: Creating new contexts where CryptoPunks can be studied, exhibited, and understood as both technological innovation and artistic achievement

Our role is to build a networked architecture that allows digital art like CryptoPunks to thrive within both digital and art-historical canons. To guide this journey, NODE has assembled an advisory board made up of visionary voices in digital art and the history of Punks:

• Matt Hall & John Watkinson, Larva Labs (@larvalabs)
• Wylie Aronow, Yuga Labs (@gordongoner)
• Erick Calderon, Art Blocks (@artonblockchain)

In addition, we are happy to share that we will be enlisting Natalie Stone (@naughtalistone) to continue her stewardship of the project as a consultant to the NODE team during this transition.

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Breaking the Frame

With over $317 million in secondary sales this year alone, CryptoPunks outsold all living contemporary artists, yet they were left off traditional art world rankings and mainstream discourse. This is a cultural disconnect that NODE actively seeks to resolve, and we will do so by first redefining how digital art is experienced.

This vision begins with a major exhibition of the full 10K collection, to debut alongside the opening of NODE's permanent hub and exhibition space in Palo Alto. Here, NODE will host a full Ethereum node to contribute towards the accessibility and permanence of the artworks housed within.

Data provided by Punks.WTF

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A Living Legacy

Punks deserve a physical space that honors their significance. NODE is working to showcase the collection as evolving onchain culture, not traditional static artifacts. Under our stewardship, CryptoPunks will remain as the artists intended, while continuing to stand as the landmark collection of this century's defining art movement.

CryptoPunks helped define what digital art could be; now, they will thrive through decentralized cultural participation and dialogue as we build across decades, not quarters.