NFT Sales Slide 11% Despite Ethereum's Record Surge

NFT sales have fallen 11% to $134.9M even as Ethereum rallies by ~19–20%, revealing a sharp drop in buyers and sellers—highlighting a puzzling divergence in crypto market trends.

Aug 10, 2025 - 07:18
NFT Sales Slide 11% Despite Ethereum's Record Surge

Despite Ethereum’s price surge and a record-setting $2.5 million CryptoPunks sale, the NFT market is in steep retreat — with sales down 11% to $134.9 million and buyer and seller counts collapsing by about 90%, signaling a sharp contraction in participation across nearly all major blockchains.

Where are all the NFT buyers?

According to data from CryptoSlam, market participation has contracted with NFT buyers plummeting by 89.83% to 73,900, and NFT sellers falling by 91.14% to 42,878. NFT transactions have increased by 1.60% to 1,781,919.

This slump comes at a time when Bitcoin Bitcoinbtc1.26%Bitcoin price has dropped to the $116,000 level.

At the same time, Ethereum Ethereumeth1.45%Ethereum has shown a spike of 19% in the last seven days to $4,100. The global crypto market cap is now $3.93 trillion, up from last week.

Ethereum maintains its dominance in sales

Ethereum has maintained its dominant position with $58.5 million in sales, though declining 23.43% from the previous week. Ethereum’s wash trading has fallen by 61.64% to $5.5 million.

Polygon POL (ex-MATIC)pol-0.94%POL (ex-MATIC) has climbed to second place with $17.8 million, surging 56.90%. Bitcoin holds third position with $14.2 million, down 19.47%.

BNB Chain BNBbnb0.42%BNB has risen to fourth place with $13.6 million, jumping 33.54%. Mythos Chain sits in fifth with $9.6 million, declining 1.75%. Solana Solanasol0.89%Solana rounds out the top six with $8.2 million, falling 33.49%.

The buyer count has dropped across all major blockchains, with Polygon leading the drop at 97.43%, followed by BNB Chain at 95.64% and Bitcoin at 94.41%.

Courtyard on Polygon has reclaimed the top spot in collection rankings with $15.9 million in sales, surging 67.72%. The collection has seen growth in transactions (117.90%) and buyers (152.55%).

CryptoPunks has fallen to second place with $11.4 million, declining 43.68%. The collection has experienced drops across all metrics including transactions (56.52%), buyers (39.13%), and sellers (54.10%).

Pudgy Penguins show modest recovery

Pudgy Penguins holds third position with $4.9 million, showing modest recovery with 12.76% growth. Despite the overall market decline, this collection has maintained stability.

SpinNFTBox on BNB Chain has entered the top five with $4.6 million, exploding by 56.31%. The collection is dominated by a single seller despite having 838 buyers.

DMarket sits in fifth place with $4.5 million, declining 2.64%. Sorare has entered the rankings in sixth with $4 million, falling 43.54%. Guild of Guardians Heroes rounds out the top seven with $3.8 million, down 0.82%.

Notable high-value sales from this week include:

  • CryptoPunks #1021 sold for 720 ETH ($2,569,908)
  • CryptoPunks #9797 sold for 140 ETH ($503,547)
  • CryptoPunks #7414 sold for 100 ETH ($341,596)
  • CryptoPunks #7211 sold for 75 ETH ($292,320)
  • CryptoPunks #3291 sold for 72 ETH ($281,019)

Gulfam Ali The need for intelligent, informed, and interesting content is more than ever as the Bitcoin ecosystem develops and grows. Gulfam Ali is a committed cryptocurrency writer who adds nuance and understanding to the convoluted realm of blockchain technology and digital currencies. Passionate about blockchain technology, cryptocurrency markets, and decentralized finance (DeFi), Gulfam Ali has become a respected industry voice by generating excellent guides, articles, analysis, and thought leadership material.