Yuga Labs, known as the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club and other well-known NFTs, has sold its iconic CryptoPunks cryptocurrency to the NODE Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the preservation of digital art. The details of the deal were not disclosed, and a representative of the foundation declined to comment. Back in April, NODE announced that it had received a $25 million grant to “build the future of digital art” from investors Mickey Malkin and Becky Kleiner. The former is the chairman of the fund.
Yuga Labs acquired CryptoPunks in 2022 from Larva Labs on the wave of the digital token craze, when NFTs were selling for millions of dollars. The most expensive CryptoPunk NFT was sold for nearly $24 million worth of cryptocurrency, according to the CryptoPunks website.
However, the markets have since slowed down. Malka said that CryptoPunks “sparked a cultural movement” and that NODE will “protect this iconic work in the future” to make it more accessible to people.
