BAYC and Pudgy Penguins Lead NFT Rally Despite Shrinking Buyer Base

Blue‑chip NFTs are rallying but the rebound is narrow: Pudgy Penguins’ floor rose above 5 ETH (up >20% on the week) and Bored Ape Yacht Club gained ~81% over 30 days, helped by an ~18% monthly rise in ETH (and similar gains in BTC). However, aggregate NFT market activity is weakening — global sales fell from $304m in February to about $175m in April, while transaction volume and active users dropped by nearly half. The move looks like capital crowding into prestige collections and ETH‑beta rather than a broad market recovery, leaving the wider NFT ecosystem thinner despite headline price gains for flagship names.