An NFT investor has sold a rare Alien CryptoPunks NFT at a $10 million loss amid a sharp decline in the NFT market.
Blockchain analytics platform Arkham reported the sale of CryptoPunks #3100 for 4,000 ETH, approximately $6.04 million. One year ago, the trader bought the asset for 4,500 ETH, valued at $16 million.
The loss comes as the broader NFT market sees a drop in trading activity and overall sales volume. Market data shows a 41.13% decline in NFT sales over the past 30 days, totaling $416.8 million. Transactions have also dropped 51.03% to 5.68 million, despite a 12.84% increase in buyers.
CryptoPunks defy broader NFT market decline
The CryptoPunks collection, where the Alien NFT was sold, has shown resilience during the market downturn. With a 74.26% rise in 30-day sales volume to $23.51 million, it ranks third among top-performing collections. Despite only 177 transactions, the collection has achieved an average sale price of around $132,800.
Buyer participation in the collection increased by 26.32%, while the number of sellers surged 79.45%. CryptoPunks #3100 remains the highest-priced NFT sold in the 30-day window. Its $6.04 million sale is significantly higher than the second-largest sale, which reached $843,070.
Ethereum remains dominant despite volume drop
Ethereum continues to lead the NFT space with $127.6 million in legitimate sales over the past 30 days, a 52.14% decrease. Ethereum’s total volume climbs to $139.22 million when factoring in wash trades, with $11.62 million identified as artificial activity.
Polygon follows with $69.26 million in sales and minimal wash trading, while Bitcoin posted $66.22 million despite a 31.27% drop. Solana and Mythos Chain round out the top five, with $38.41 million and $40.51 million in sales respectively.
Mixed performance across NFT collections
While the overall market contracts, some collections are growing. Courtyard on Polygon led with $60.95 million in sales, up 36.75%. DMarket on Mythos saw $39.66 million in volume but faced a 5.39% decline.
Despite its ongoing price volatility the CryptoPunks collections maintain their ability to draw premium buyers during uncertain times. Out of all existing CryptoPunks there are only nine Alien CryptoPunks making them highly rare which continues to stimulate buyer demand.