Value of most expensive CryptoPunk NFT plummets as public interest in digital collectible wanes

NFT investor Deepak Thapliyal just announced on twitter that he had just sold the most expensive piece from the CryptoPunk NFT collection - CryptoPunk NFT #5822- to an anonymous buyer. This sale was made at an untimely period, which is when the public interest of the digital collectible is starting to wane. This has led many to assume that the NFT could be sold at a loss. All this evidence seems to be pointing towards the death of NFTs? Or is it?

Sale of CryptoPunk #5822

CryptoPunk#5822 was one of the most expensive pieces from the CryptoPunks NFT collection, acquired by NFT enthusiast Deepak Thapliyal in 2022 for a staggering 8,000 Ether(ETH), equivalent to $23.7 million at the time. The NFT, featuring a rare alien wearing a blue bandana, has hence made its mark as having the highest bid for cryptoPunk NFT and the fifth priciest NFT sale ever.

On 19 August, Thapliyal bid his goodbye to CryptoPunk#5822 on X, wishing it well in its new home. But the name of the seller and the price of which he sold the NFT for were both not disclosed in his announcement. Many fans are now tagging Thapliyal's tweet, and digging into the price at which the NFT was sold. Some are even inquiring if he made a loss from this transaction.

Speculation that NFT was sold at a cheaper price

The NFT is currently experiencing a downturn, with a 45% drop in sales volume in Q2 2024 and an all time low in sales numbers since November 2023. The internet is assuming that the NFT was sold at a loss.

Currently, there is only one alien Punk listed for sale on CryptoPunks and it is priced at 5,000 ETH ($13.36 million). If Cryptopunk#5822 was sold around this price point, it could also mean that Thapliyal had suffered a minimum loss of 43.6% from his auctioning of this NFT.

Others have quoted the dying interest in the NFT market as another reason why Crypto#5822 was sold at a much cheaper price compared to its original value two years ago.

Just last week, another piece in the collection, CryptoPunk#491, was struggling to attract a lot of interest when it was put on auction by fine arts broker Sotheby's. In a shocking turn of events, the NFT only managed to attract one bidder, which was way below the expectation of the seller. The sole bidder of CryptoPunk#491 was only willing to pay $45000 for the NFT, which was a much lower price then the estimated price of $70,000 that Sotheby's was estimating. The fate of CryptoPunk#5822 and the tepid auction results have underscored how the NFT market continues to struggle in today's economic climate.

Could NFT really be dying?

So what does this mean for the future of NFT? Could it really rise back to its former glory back in 2021? While we are clearly seeing a decline in interest in NFT, that would not suffice to call this a crash in the NFT market. While we do see clear downward dynamics of the market, there are also some factors that might point to the fact that the NFT market isn't quite dead just yet.

For one, there are still a lot of investors, and even institutional investors who are still heavily invested in their NFT portfolios. This could be one of the tell tale signs that the market still has longevity. On the other hand, the market is also experiencing maturing and leveling off right now, and it might take more creative nad unique offerings to make headlines and draw massive investors. But this doesn't mean that the market is dead. Rather, it is showing that the market is maturing toward a more utility-based values. Either way, what is clear is that NFTs are still very much alive.