ETH Rallies 19% to $4.1K Amid NFT Market Sales Drop 11%

Ethereum surged 19% to $4,100 last week, while the NFT market saw an 11% drop in sales to $134.9 million. Buyer counts plunged nearly 90% to 73,900 and sellers fell 91% to 42,878. On-chain NFT transactions edged up 1.6% to 1.78 million but did not boost sales. Ethereum NFTs led volume at $58.5M (-23.4%), followed by Polygon at $17.8M (+56.9%), BNB Chain at $13.6M (+33.5%), Bitcoin at $14.2M (-19.5%) and Solana at $8.2M (-33.5%). Top collections diverged: Polygon’s Courtyard topped with $15.9M (+68%) and a 153% rise in buyers; CryptoPunks dropped 43.7% to $11.4M despite a record 720 ETH sale; Pudgy Penguins added 12.8%, SpinNFTBox jumped 56.3%, while DMarket and Sorare saw slight declines. The steep fall in participation in the NFT market raises concerns over sustainability. Traders should monitor buyer activity and sales volume for signs of recovery amid the ongoing market contraction.
Bullish
Ethereum’s 19% price surge shows strong buying momentum, indicating bullish sentiment despite the NFT market’s sales slump. The sharp drop in NFT participation highlights sector weakness but does not offset Ethereum’s on-chain demand. In the short term, continued price momentum and trader interest in ETH suggest further gains. Long term, if NFT market contraction persists, speculative demand may cool, potentially capping upside. Overall, the dominant price rally in Ethereum outweighs NFT headwinds, supporting a bullish view on ETH.