NFT market cap drops by $1.2B as Ether rally loses steam

The non-fungible token ($NFT) market lost more than $1.2 billion in value in less than a week as Ether’s rally slowed, according to sector data.

On Monday, $NFT Price Floor data showed that the total valuations of $NFT collections dropped to $8.1 billion, a 12% decline from last Wednesday’s $NFT market cap of $9.3 billion, which had surged 40% since July.

NFTs wiping out $1.2 billion in valuation in less than a week coincides with a 9% drop in Ether ($ETH) prices. At the time of writing, Cointelegraph data showed $ETH traded at $4,260, dropping from a high of about $4,700 on Wednesday.

Many NFTs are minted on the Ethereum network. With valuations and sales denominated in $ETH, bullish or bearish momentum in the crypto asset often translates into increased or decreased value in the $NFT sector. As $ETH went down 4% in the last 24 hours, a majority of the top 10 collections also showed a decline in value.

Top 10 NFTs by market capitalization. Source: $NFT Price Floor

$NFT market cap drops by over 12% as $ETH declines

While it continues to be the top collection by market capitalization, CryptoPunks saw about $300 million wiped out from the collection’s value.

At the time of writing, the data shows it’s worth $2.1 billion, declining by 12% compared to its 2.4 billion market cap on Wednesday.

CryptoSlam data shows that the collection’s sales volume reached $12.7 million, a 34% drop in the last seven days. Total sales also only reached 51, down 28% in the last week.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), which was ranked second in overall $NFT market capitalization last Wednesday, dropped to third place on Monday, as the collection declined to $482.3 million.

This represents a nearly 20% drop compared to Wednesday’s $602 million.

Related: $NFT sales surge to $574 million in July, second-highest in 2025

Penguins overtake Apes in market capitalization

Meanwhile, Pudgy Penguins climbed to the second-highest valuation despite erasing around $100 million in overall value.

On Monday, the collection’s market cap reached $491 million, dropping 17% compared to Wednesday’s $591 million.

Last week, publicly-traded blockchain company BTCS Inc. announced that it added three Pudgy Penguins NFTs to its corporate digital asset treasury.

This shows that companies are beginning to recognize blue-chip $NFT collections as legitimate assets for treasury diversification.

Magazine: Jack Butcher’s no fan of $NFT royalties: ‘You’re getting paid on churn’