NFT prices in October 2026: Bored Apes 97 percent below record, CryptoPunks hold up best

A Bored Ape costs less today than it has in years. On October 13, 2026 the lowest asking price for the famous ape collection stood at 5.12 ETH, just under $12,900. In May 2022 it was 153.7 ETH. That is a fall of 97 percent, and the Bored Apes are no exception: almost all the large NFT collections on Ethereum sit far below their records, and several have lost another two thirds over the past year.

The timing is notable. On Saturday Yuga Labs celebrates ApeFest in Charleston; at the same time Blur, once the largest NFT marketplace on Ethereum, is announcing its closure, and Igloo, the company behind Pudgy Penguins, is shutting down its own blockchain Abstract. We queried the prices of the eight best-known collections at CoinGecko and show who is holding up, who is falling and what lies behind the decline.

NFT prices in October 2026: the large collections at a glance

What we measured is the so-called floor price, meaning the lowest price at which an NFT from the collection is currently offered. It is the usual yardstick for the value of a collection, because it shows what entry costs at a minimum. Retrieved on October 13, 2026 between 16:11 and 16:13 CEST through the interface of CoinGecko; the dollar values follow the ether price at that moment.

The column on the far right measures the price in ETH, not in dollars. That matters, because ether itself has fallen too: in dollar terms a Bored Ape has lost around 59 percent over twelve months, in ETH terms 32 percent. Anyone who paid for their apes in ether is therefore better off than someone counting in dollars or euros.

CryptoPunks hold up, Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds fall furthest

The most stable are the CryptoPunks. At 31.29 ETH, just under $79,000, they sit 75 percent below their record from August 2021, markedly less than all the others. The punks of 2017 are among the oldest NFT collections on Ethereum, and many holders will not part with them. That supports the price, but it also makes the market thin: on the day of our query, punks worth a mere 70 ETH changed hands.

The younger favourites were hit hardest over the past year. Pudgy Penguins cost 36.33 ETH at their December 2024 peak. Today it is 2.19 ETH, down 72 percent in twelve months alone. Contributing to that were the end of the mobile game Pudgy Party in June and the news of October 6 that Igloo is switching off its blockchain Abstract on December 15. What holders there have to do now is set out in our guide to withdrawing funds from Abstract, and the consequences for the PENGU token in our PENGU price prediction.

Moonbirds and Doodles stand 99 percent below their records from the spring of 2022. A Moonbird cost around $930 on October 13, a Doodle around $550. For both, only a handful of NFTs changed hands on the day of our query, together not even 13 ETH.

Why NFT prices are falling: less trading, fewer marketplaces

The most important reason is simply absent demand. Nowhere is that clearer than at Blur. In 2023 the marketplace had overtaken incumbent OpenSea with zero fees and rewards in its BLUR token. According to CoinDesk, monthly trading volume fell from around $1.43 billion in March 2023 to less than $7 million in March 2026, a decline of more than 99.5 percent. On October 12 Blur announced it would close the website on November 12; the Blend lending product will then arrange no new loans. Everything on that is in our article Blur closes on November 12.

On top of that, the speculation has moved on. Anyone betting on ape pictures in 2021 is more likely today to be buying memecoins or trading with leverage. NFTs have become a market for collectors who genuinely want to own a collection. That fits with the restructuring at the big houses: Yuga Labs is concentrating on Bored Apes and the game world Otherside, and Igloo, after the end of Abstract, entirely on Pudgy Penguins. Which marketplaces still have trading worth mentioning after Blur's retreat is shown in our overview NFT marketplaces in 2026: who still trades.

ApeFest 2026: a ticket for 0.74 ETH

The low prices have an unusual side effect around ApeFest on October 17 in Charleston. Admission goes to anyone holding a Bored Ape or a Mutant Ape, with one ticket per NFT. A Mutant Ape cost just 0.74 ETH on October 13, around $1,860. A Yuga-adjacent post of October 11 even advertises that buyers from this week will get their ticket free of charge. Why hardly anyone from the German community is flying over all the same is written up in our article ApeFest 2026 in Charleston.

Buying an NFT at a low price: what matters

Low prices do not mean things cannot go lower still. An NFT produces no income; its price depends solely on whether somebody else will pay it later. Anyone who still wants to buy should know four points:

1. Check the trading: the lowest asking price is of little use if there is barely any trading. Bored Apes and Pudgy Penguins each came to more than 200 ETH of turnover on the day of our query, Moonbirds to less than 4 ETH. In thin trading a sale can take weeks.
2. Compare the fees: marketplaces charge different fees, on top of which come creator royalties and the network fee. Which platform costs what is shown in our NFT marketplace comparison.
3. Clear out approvals: in September, attackers exploited old marketplace approvals connected with the Limit Break Payment Processor to drain NFTs. Anyone who used to trade on several marketplaces should revoke approvals they no longer need before their next purchase.
4. Store them securely: valuable NFTs belong on a wallet whose keys have never been online, meaning a hardware wallet, ideally bought directly from the manufacturer. Why the purchase route matters is shown by the current case in which MediaMarkt and Saturn stopped selling Ledger devices; which devices exist is set out in our hardware wallet comparison.

For tax purposes there is no separate rule from the German authorities for NFTs. In practice tax advisers mostly treat sales like other private disposals under section 23 of the Income Tax Act: gains within one year of purchase are taxable, and after that as a rule tax free. This is not tax advice. Anyone with many purchases and sales gets to a clean statement faster with a crypto tax tool.

NFT prices in October 2026: what to take away

The NFT market in the autumn of 2026 is as cheap as it has been in years. Bored Apes, Mutant Apes, Azuki, Doodles and Moonbirds sit 97 to 99 percent below their records, Pudgy Penguins have lost almost three quarters in a year, and only the CryptoPunks are holding up comparatively well. At the same time the number of marketplaces is shrinking: Blur closes on November 12, Abstract on December 15. For collectors that is an opportunity, for speculators a warning sign. We will keep this overview going and update the prices at the turn of the month.