Despite a recent downturn in the crypto markets, a significant CryptoPunks NFT sale just occurred, marking the second-largest transaction in the history of the platform. Here’s what you need to know about this noteworthy event.

Ethereum’s Market Status

While Ethereum experienced a decline this week after reaching its highest price in over two years, it didn’t deter a major purchase on Wednesday: A CryptoPunks NFT was acquired for over $16 million worth of ETH.

Punk #7804, one of only nine Alien Punks in the esteemed Ethereum NFT collection, changed hands for 4,850 ETH on Wednesday afternoon, equivalent to $16.42 million at the time of the sale. This sale ranks as the second-largest in CryptoPunks history, both in terms of ETH and USD.

Previous Sales

This sale follows closely after another significant transaction involving an Alien Punk (#3100), which sold for 4,500 ETH, worth $16.03 million, on March 3. Like the previous purchase, the buyer’s identity remains undisclosed. The purchase was facilitated through an Ethereum wallet that was newly funded via Coinbase on the day of the sale.

The seller of Punk #7804, who had acquired it in 2021 for 4,200 ETH, equivalent to $7.57 million at the time, expressed regret on Twitter for not maximizing the profile of the NFT during their ownership.

Market Insights

The highest-priced CryptoPunks sale occurred in February 2022 when a CEO of a crypto startup acquired another Alien Punk (#5822) for 8,000 ETH, amounting to $23.7 million.

With this latest sale, it now stands as the fifth most expensive NFT sale ever. The current record is held by Mike “Beeple” Winkleman’s digital artwork collage, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” which fetched $69.3 million at Christie’s auction in March 2021, contributing to the initial surge of interest in NFTs.

Initially minted in 2017 by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks set the standard for tokenized profile pictures, influencing subsequent collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Despite being initially distributed for free, CryptoPunks have amassed nearly $2.8 billion in secondary trading volume to date, according to data from CryptoSlam

Even the most affordable CryptoPunks NFTs on the market are priced at approximately 51 ETH, or $177,000. The CryptoPunks IP was eventually acquired by Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, in 2022.