NFT Trader Probably Loses Over $300K After Mistakenly Selling Pudgy Penguins NFTs for $35 Each

In a December 31 blog post, Xeer, the founder of ApeVenturesVC and a renowned crypto and non-fungible token influencer confirmed that an undisclosed trader has sold five of his Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token collections for only $175.

On December 31, a crypto wallet belonging to an anonymous NFT trader has left both the crypto and non-fungible token communities on X (formerly Twitter) in disbelief after records showed that the trader had sold five Pudgy Penguins NFT collections for $35 each, totaling only $175. Given that the Pudgy Penguins have a current floor price of 21 ETH, the NFT trader has likely incurred a loss of nearly half a million dollars.

An NFT Trader Likely Loses Over $300K

In a December 31 blog post, Xeer, the founder of ApeVenturesVC and a prominent crypto and non-fungible token influencer, disclosed that an unidentified trader had sold five of his Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token collections for only $175. According to Xeer's findings, the unidentified NFT trader had sold his Pudgy Penguins #5222, Pudgy Penguins #5996, Pudgy Penguins #2009, Pudgy Penguins #7743, and Pudgy Penguins #1550 NFT collections, all for just $34.99.

Oh fuck… Someone just sold 5 of their @pudgypenguins for only $175 USD.

They must have mistaken 35 USDC for 35 ETH (USD $116,970). That’s a half-million-dollars fumble.

Feels bad man. pic.twitter.com/zkruY8Tiri

— Xeer (@Xeer) December 31, 2024

Launched in 2021, Pudgy Penguins is a non-fungible token collection from the digital asset firm Igloo, featuring a limited edition of 8,888 cute cartoon penguin birds hosted on the Ethereum blockchain network. The Pudgy Penguins NFT collection has soared over the years to become one of the most-traded NFT collections in the NFT market. In December, the Pudgy Penguins was the most traded NFT collection in the NFT market. It has a floor price of $73,909 and a market cap of over $650 million.

According to Xeer, the subject NFT trader likely intended to sell his five Pudgy Penguins NFT collections at 35 ETH, which seems to be a reasonable price for many Pudgy Penguins NFTs this NFT season; however, the trader mistakenly failed to change the currency on the dashboard. Based on the current floor price, the subject crypto wallet has incurred a loss of $370,000. These NFT transactions have sparked varying opinions, with some X users speculating that the incident could be a tax scam.

Was It A Mistake or Tax Evasion?

Members of the crypto community on X linked the recent Pudgy Penguins incident to a tax scam, with one user suggesting that “maybe he had a negotiated outside the market, and sold it at a very low cost to avoid taxes, and made it to look like an error.” Another user also termed this incident as tax evasion, claiming “they will buy back Pudgy Penguins from their alt wallet in two days.”

Tax evasion. These kind of sales should be reversed or instant canceled.

— Bitcoin Runes Hub – $DOG 🧡 OKX (@Bitcoinruneshub) December 31, 2024

Other members on X have termed the recent incident as a tax-loss harvesting. By definition, Tax-loss harvesting is the timely selling of securities at a loss to offset the amount of capital gains tax owed from selling profitable assets. Since all the Pudgy Penguins NFTs were sold to the same wallet, another user claimed it was likely tax harvesting. In the meantime, it remains unclear what exactly transpired.

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