The NFT market delivered a surprisingly strong performance this past week, with sales jumping 20.67% to $122.6 million even as the number of active buyers and sellers plummeted by more than 80%. The data paints a picture of a market where big money is still flowing, but through far fewer hands.
Ethereum Reclaims the Throne, Bitcoin Surges
Ethereum has reclaimed its position as the top blockchain for NFT sales, racking up $50 million, a whopping 133.36% increase from the week before. Meanwhile, Bitcoin made an impressive leap from sixth place to second, fueled by the broader crypto rally that saw BTC hitting a new all-time high of $117,000 and ETH rising 17% over the past seven days. Bitcoin NFT sales totaled $15.5 million, up 50.12% week-over-week.
Despite the market’s shrinking user base, top collections like f(x) wstETH and Pudgy Penguins posted dramatic gains, driven by institutional activity and big-ticket trades including multiple six-figure sales of Autoglyph NFTs. It’s a market paradox: fewer participants, but soaring valuations.
Participation Collapses Across the Board
According to figures from CryptoSlam, the NFT market’s user base has eroded significantly. The number of buyers fell 89.08% to 88,157, while sellers dropped 82.62% to 56,817. However, the number of transactions remained relatively stable, inching up by 1.63% to 1,357,999.
Ethereum’s dominance came with some caveats, as wash trading volumes doubled this week to $3.9 million, a 101.59% increase.
Blockchain Rankings Shake Up
Here’s how the major blockchains stacked up by NFT sales volume this week:
- Ethereum: $50 million (+133.36%)
- Bitcoin: $15.5 million (+50.12%)
- Polygon (POL, ex-MATIC): $14.6 million (-41.86%), with wash trading rising 59.20% to $914,413
- Mythos Chain: $14 million (-2.43%)
- BNB Chain: $7.8 million (-17.74%)
- Immutable (IMX): $6.3 million (-28.74%)
Across all blockchains, buyer counts have declined sharply, with Ethereum seeing an 86.74% drop, Polygon falling 88.87%, and Bitcoin slipping 80.22%.
Top NFT Collections See Wild Swings
The biggest star of the week was f(x) wstETH, which soared to the top of the collection rankings with $15.8 million in sales, marking a staggering 2,056.28% surge. This spike came despite a tiny user base, driven almost entirely by institutional activity, with only 26 buyers and a single seller.
Other notable collections this week included:
- The Courtyard on Polygon fell to second place with $12.3 million in sales, down 35.06%. It also saw declines in buyers (-32.75%) and sellers (-14.59%).
- DMarket held third place with $8.9 million, a modest 3% dip.
- Bitcoin’s BRC-20 NFTs climbed into fourth, generating $4.3 million, a significant 74.64% jump.
- Pudgy Penguins burst into the top five with $3.2 million, surging 130.49%. The collection doubled its transaction volume (+100%), and saw increases in both buyers (+146.43%) and sellers (+107.89%).
Meanwhile, Guild of Guardians Heroes, which previously topped the charts, vanished entirely from the top collections this week.
Biggest NFT Sales of the Week
Several high-value NFT sales grabbed headlines, including:
- Autoglyphs #195 sold for 95 ETH ($283,623)
- Otherdeed Expanded #7 sold for 100 WETH ($278,128)
- Autoglyphs #194 fetched 215,000 USDC ($215,000)
- Autoglyphs #139 went for 75 WETH ($189,994)
- BOOGLE sold for 1,150.02 SOL ($174,304)
The Takeaway
While NFT sales dollars are surging, the market is consolidating around fewer participants and bigger transactions. The week’s data underscores the growing role of institutional players and high-net-worth collectors in keeping NFT trading alive even as everyday buyer and seller numbers continue to tumble.
It’s a fascinating paradox for NFTs: fewer traders, but bigger money.
