Are NFTs Back? One Whale Just Swept 45 CryptoPunks For $8 Million

[Redator]

NFT collections, including CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Moonbirds, and Pudgy Penguins, are experiencing a sudden surge in demand, with the floor prices of some collections increasing by double digits overnight.

This spike in interest aligns with the rising prices of Ethereum and Solana, the blockchain networks behind most major NFT collections. Ethereum reached a peak of $3,800 on Monday, its highest point in 2025, while SOL climbed to $190, its strongest level in five months.

(SOURCE)

The total NFT market cap is now sitting at over $6.7 billion, nearly doubling from $3.2 billion less than a month ago. With the growing demand for NFTs, this provides another signal that investors are cycling out of Bitcoin and back into more speculative plays.

Other signs include a near 7% decline in Bitcoin’s market dominance to around 60.8% over the past month, according to TradingView data.

24-hour trading volume across the NFT sector has spiked to $45.8 million, while just a month ago, NFTs were barely scraping $10 million in daily volume —a huge signal of trader interest returning to digital art.

This rise across the NFT sector is partly due to the increase in the prices of Solana and Ethereum, the two networks responsible for the majority of the NFT market.

Also contributing to the resurgence is the success of PENGU, the native token behind Pudgy Penguins. It has increased by 300% in just 30 days and is now around 850% higher than its yearly low of $0.0037 from April of this year.

Its rise has generated a lot of chatter and attention in the NFT market as a byproduct of PENGU being part of a wider NFT ecosystem.

PENGU’s success has created fresh demand for the Pudgy Penguin and Lil Pudgy NFT collections, with their floors sitting at 16.75 ETH ($63,000) and 1.8 ETH ($6,750), respectively.

However, all talk right now is back on CryptoPunks, the original NFT collection that has seen a nearly 20% increase in the past 30 days, with huge buys returning to the most talked-about digital art collection of 2021.

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CryptoPunks Are Back: One Whale Just Went On An $8M Shopping Spree

A whale created a new wallet(0x1bb3) and spent 2,082 $ETH($5.87M) to buy 45 CryptoPunk NFTs 4 hours ago.https://t.co/mVu8wrKhT7 pic.twitter.com/pfH4j5lYKI

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 21, 2025

CryptoPunks are experiencing rapid price increases and growing market dominance. During the peak of the NFT craze in late 2021, acquiring a Punk required over 100 Ether, which was worth approximately $4,800 at Ethereum’s all-time high.

Now, as the market revives, the floor price has risen back to 47.75 Ether, around $182,000 per Punk. The floor rising is largely down to one whale in particular.

The whale in question seems to be making a significant bet on this resurgence. A new wallet address recently spent around $8 million in ETH to acquire 45 CryptoPunks in a single transaction, according to data from @Lookonchain, a blockchain analytics firm.

This surge in demand has propelled the collection’s market dominance to over 28% of the entire NFT market, per CoinGecko. Pudgy Penguins have the second highest market dominance at 9%.

Other Notable Movers In The NFT Space

I think a lot of you are underestimating how much the 2021 class loves NFTs

— TylerD (@Tyler_Did_It) July 20, 2025

Beyond the most high-profile NFTs such as CryptoPunks, most top collections also saw a boost. Bored Ape Yacht Club has risen nearly 23% in 24 hours, to over $50,900. It has seen $3.8 million in trading volume over the past day.

Azuki, another prominent NFT collection from 2021, has spiked 26% in the last day. Its floor price has spiked to 2.43 ETH ($9,100), after it had fallen under 2 ETH earlier this year.

Milady Maker, a popular profile picture (PFP) NFT collection that is popular across social media, has surged a modest 10% overnight, spiking in volume at the same time. Milady has quietly led much of the recent rally, with floor prices up around 30% to $9,800 so far in July.

Investor and former banker Tyler Warner, who goes by the handle TylerD on X, believes that many people are underestimating the enthusiasm for NFTs among the 2021 class. Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockworks, also noted that NFTs are moving as if there are NFT treasury vehicles on the horizon.

Meanwhile, digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, who famously sold the NFT “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for $69 million in 2021, marked the price surge with a new artwork that he appears to have titled “Big Sweep.”

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