Infinite Node Foundation (NODE), a nonprofit focused on digital art, has acquired the intellectual property of the CryptoPunks non-fungible token (NFT) collection from Yuga Labs, NODE said in a May 13 announcement. The acquisition of CryptoPunks, plus its additional $25 million endowment, establishes NODE as “the most well-capitalized nonprofit dedicated solely to digital art in the United States,” the foundation said in an X post. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The nonprofit said it has assembled an advisory board to oversee the CryptoPunks collection. It comprises Matt Hall and John Watkinson — the artists behind the NFT collection — and a representative of Yuga Labs, among others. “Our role is to build a networked architecture that allows digital art like CryptoPunks to thrive within both digital and art-historical canons,” NODE said . The highest-grossing CryptoPunks NFTs. Source: CryptoPunks Related: Doodles NFT token stalls after airdrop Most valuable NFT collection CryptoPunks are “algorithmically generated pixel art characters” that “changed the art world by existing outside of it and sparked a cultural shift that continues to reshape our digital world,” according to NODE. It is the most valuable NFT collection, with a total market capitalization of nearly $1.2 billion across its 10,000 NFTs as of May 13, according to data from CoinGecko. The CryptoPunks collection was launched in 2017 by Larva Labs, an NFT designer co-founded by Hall and Watkinson. Since then, the NFTs have clocked upward of $3 billion in sales, according to NODE. Each NFT sale creates royalties for the holders of the NFTs’ IP. In 2022, the highest-grossing CryptoPunk NFT sold for nearly $24 million, according to CryptoPunks’ website. The collection was purchased in 2022 by Yuga Labs, best known for designing the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection — the third-largest NFT collection by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko. Yuga simultaneously purchased Meebits, another Larva NFT collection, before selling it in February . In March, Yuga Labs said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) closed an investigation into the company in what it described as “a huge win for NFTs.” Magazine: Meebits and CryptoPunks are like Hot Wheels for adults: New MeebCo owner Sergito