An investor has sold a CryptoPunk non-fungible token (NFT) at a nearly $10 million realized loss, reflecting the continued decline in the once-booming blue-chip NFT market. A whale, or large cryptocurrency investor, sold a CryptoPunk NFT for 4,000 Ether ( ETH ) worth more than $6 million at the time of writing. The investor originally purchased the NFT for 4,500 ETH, or roughly $15.7 million, a year ago, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain. “Did he only lose 500 $ETH($774K)? No—he actually lost $9.73M!” Lookonchain wrote in an X post. “When he bought it, $ETH was trading at $3,509. By the time he sold, $ETH had dropped 57%,” the platform added. CryptoPunk buy and sell. Source: Arkham Intelligence / Lookonchain Despite the steep loss, the $6 million transaction still ranks as the largest NFT sale over the past 30 days, according to data from CryptoSlam. Top NFT sales past 30 days. Source: CryptoSlam The sale comes during a period of stagnation for NFTs, which have been lacking wider trader interest. NFT trading volume on Ethereum is down more than 53% over the past month, while Polygon’s NFT trading volume fell 41%. CryptoPunks saw a temporary floor price surge of 13% after rumors that its owner, Yuga Labs, might be “in the process” of selling the collection’s intellectual property, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 14. Related: Sentient completes record 650K NFT mint for decentralized ‘loyal’ AI model Blue-chip collections see steep drop The top blue-chip NFT collections remain significantly down from their 2021 highs amid a lack of trading activity. CryptoPunks currently have a floor price of about 43 ETH, or $68,000, down more than 61% from their record high of 113.9 ETH in October 2021. CryptoPunks NFT floor price, all-time chart. Source: NFTpricefloor The Bored Ape Yacht Club’s floor price is also down 89%, while the Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection is down 93%, NFTpricefloor data shows. Related: Trump family memecoins may trigger increased SEC scrutiny on crypto However, the Pudgy Penguin collection remains an outlier. It reached a new all-time high of over 25 Ether on Dec. 16, 2024, and amassed the highest sales volume of over $72 million in the first quarter of 2025, Cointelegraph reported on March 28. Source: Yuga Labs At the start of March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission closed its three-year investigation into Yuga Labs, an investigation initiated under former Chair Gary Gensler, which aimed to probe NFT creators and marketplaces, to see if some NFTs, such as fractional NFTs , were securities. Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research
