TLDR

• CryptoPunk #3100, one of nine rare Alien Punks, sold for $6 million (4,000 ETH), resulting in a $10 million loss for the seller
• The NFT was originally purchased in March 2024 for $16 million (4,500 ETH)
• The massive loss is attributed to both a 500 ETH reduction in sale price and Ethereum’s 56-57% value decline over the past year
• CryptoPunks floor price has dropped 67% from its all-time high, now averaging 42.5 ETH ($65,900)
• NFT trading volume fell to $1.5 billion in Q1 2025, a 24% decrease from Q4 2024

A rare CryptoPunk NFT has changed hands for $6 million, with the seller absorbing a massive $10 million loss. The transaction highlights the ongoing cooling of the once-hot NFT market.

CryptoPunk #3100, one of only nine Alien Punks in the original 10,000-piece collection, sold for 4,000 Ethereum (ETH), worth about $6.07 million at the time of sale. The transaction was completed on April 10 through a private offer on the CryptoPunks marketplace, with art brokerage firm Fountain reportedly handling the deal.

Punk 3100 bought for 4,000 ETH ($6,084,359.86 USD) by 0x074ad7 from 0x705876. https://t.co/YMzLi5i8se #cryptopunks #ethereum pic.twitter.com/2dsOqsjAc0

— CryptoPunks Bot (@cryptopunksbot) April 10, 2025

What makes this sale stand out is the steep loss taken by the seller. The anonymous owner had purchased the NFT in March 2024 for 4,500 ETH, which was worth about $16 million at that time.

Ethereum Price Drop Amplifies Losses

The loss stems from two factors. First, the seller accepted 500 fewer ETH than they originally paid. Second, Ethereum’s price has fallen by approximately 56-57% over the past year.

This combination turned what would have been a loss of 500 ETH into a $10 million decrease in dollar terms. The buyer funded their purchase with ETH from an account labeled “Coinbase Prime 2” on the Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan.

CryptoPunk #3100 now appears three times on the all-time top sales leaderboard for CryptoPunks. It previously sold for $7.58 million and $16.03 million.

Rarity Maintains Value Despite Market Decline

The high price despite the market downturn stems from the NFT’s extreme rarity. Alien CryptoPunks are the most scarce “type” in the collection, even rarer than Zombies (88 exist) and Apes (24 exist).

CryptoPunk #3100 is the only Alien Punk with a headband, making it uniquely valuable. Its rarity has helped maintain a multi-million dollar price tag even as the broader NFT market struggles.

Sales of Alien Punks make up the seven highest on-chain CryptoPunk sales ever. This includes the record holder CryptoPunk #5822, which sold for $23.7 million in February 2022.

NFT TRADER DOWN $10M ON CRYPTOPUNK

This NFT Trader bought an Alien Cryptopunk 1 year ago for 4.5K ETH ($16M). He just sold it for 4K ETH ($6M).

He just locked in a $10M loss.

Address: 0x70587661c804c72BBa25EcddD8d17B332C984017 pic.twitter.com/765PHvUzob

— Arkham (@arkham) April 10, 2025

Broader NFT Market Cooling

While CryptoPunks remains the premier profile picture NFT collection, its financial performance has declined sharply. The collection’s floor price has dropped 67% from its all-time high of 125 ETH set in 2021.

At that peak, when ETH traded around $3,500, the minimum price for any CryptoPunk was above $400,000. Today, the floor price averages 42.5 ETH, worth just $65,900.

The entire NFT market faces pressure. According to DappRadar’s Q1 report, NFT trading volume fell to $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a 24% decrease from the previous quarter.

This decline in volume indicates fewer high-value transactions rather than a drop in users. Despite the downward trend, CryptoPunks still commands a major share of the market, making up 23% of the $2.7 billion global NFT market capitalization.

Earlier this month, the Pudgy Penguins collection came close to dethroning CryptoPunks as the most expensive NFT collection. Pudgy Penguins saw its floor price soar from $19,000 to more than $138,000 between November and mid-December 2024.

CryptoPunks were created by Larva Labs in 2017 and were originally free to claim. The intellectual property was later sold to Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, in 2022.

The sale of CryptoPunk #3100 is the largest on-chain CryptoPunk transaction since April 25, 2024, when Punk #7804 sold for $16.42 million. That sale ranks as the second-largest on-chain CryptoPunks sale of all time.

NFT trading volumes have been on a general decline since 2021, with only occasional spikes during periods of high activity. Overall sales dipped to just over $58 million as of April 7, reaching levels previously seen in early 2021.