As glimpses of a cryptocurrency bull market resurfaced in the final quarter of 2024, some legacy projects and tokens have seen a resurgence in popular interest. The same applies to the long dormant sector of NFT collectibles, which rode to astronomical heights in 2021 but crashed in 2022 and hasn’t garnered much prominence since. NFTs are now back in the spotlight of the blockchain sector, and that’s mainly due to the activities of the Pudgy Penguin collection and its recent token launch in the form of $PENGU. As one of the few “blue chip” NFT projects, Pudgy Penguins have followed in the footsteps of BAYC to launch its very own ecosystem token. While the launch itself was met with mixed reactions, the initiatives made by Pudgy Penguins and subsequent reactions from the community may tell us more about the future of NFTs in general.
What are Pudgy Penguins?
Pudgy Penguins are an NFT collection launched on Ethereum back in July 2021. They feature 8,888 unique digital penguins with a variety of traits and accessories, generated from up to 150 hand-drawn components with mixed-and-matched body types, clothing, accessories, and image backgrounds. The project’s focus on cartoonish cuteness allowed it to gain a loyal following quite quickly after launch but it ran into challenges in early 2022 when allegations arose that the original founders had misused project funds. However, Pudgy Penguins were revitalized in April 2022 when Luca Netz, an ecommerce entrepreneur and longtime fan of the collection, purchased it for 750 ETH (approximately $2.5 million at the time). Under Netz's leadership as CEO, Pudgy Penguins became one of the active NFTs that has secured licensing deals for physical toys that are sold on major retail platforms like Amazon and Walmart. It also attracted investor confidence and raised $9 million in venture capital funding as part of a seed round in spring 2023.
In addition to its base collection of 8,888 digital NFTs, the history of Pudgy Penguins has also featured other collectible elements as part of a wider ecosystem:
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Pudgy Rods: Commonly called "rogs" due to a community misspelling, Pudgy Rods are a collection of fishing rod NFTs. Initially depicted as eggs wrapped in red ribbons, their true nature as fishing rods was revealed in December 2021. Holders of Pudgy Penguin NFTs were able to claim these rods for free. However, the reveal was met with widespread disappointment, marking a turning point in the brand’s history and contributing to the removal of the original founders.
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Pudgy Toys: Physical plush toys inspired by the Pudgy Penguins IP was announced by Luca Netz on May 18, 2023. Pudgy Toys feature a variety of products, including huggable plushies, figures, clip-on plushies, and collectible igloos. Each toy includes a wallet, Soulbound NFT, and tradeable NFTs, which users can access by registering with just an email address. This initiative marks a significant step in bridging the digital and physical worlds for the brand.
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Pudgy World: In late 2023, the project also announced an upcoming digital hub called Pudgy World. Built on the ZKSync Era network, Pudgy World represents an immersive metaverse filled with quests, mini-games, and other applications for the penguin community.
The $PENGU Token Launch
The primary reason why everyone has been talking about Pudgy Penguins lately is because the project launched its own native token in December 2024. $PENGU was airdropped to Pudgy Penguin holders, as well as traders of other NFTs on Ethereum and Solana, and even holders of the FTT exchange token. Roughly $1.5 billion worth of market capitalization was given away via airdrop, representing roughly half the available supply of around 88.88 billion tokens. However, the airdrop claim portal suffered from a spike in traffic when it initially opened, and had to deal with over 100,000 claim requests within the first hour. The team also cited DDOS attacks and technical difficulties that impeded the claim portal. Nevertheless, $PENGU now represents one of the top 100 biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
One of the biggest points of discussion from $PENGU is the fact that it was launched on Solana instead of Ethereum. The project team made this decision because it felt that Solana can introduce Pudgy Penguins to a broader and entirely new audience, since Solana is the more retail trader focused network due to its fast transaction speed and low fees. Nonetheless, $PENGU will also be launched on Ethereum through layer-2 networks. The project team is currently working on Abstract, a consumer-centric layer-2 solution as part of ongoing innovation for token support.
As with any new token, $PENGU experienced volatility directly after launch. It even dropped by over 50% at one point within 24 hours immediately after TGE, but it ended 2024 relatively strong. During the brief Christmas Day market rally, the token surged beyond its previous range, and reached a $2.6 billion market cap surpassing other Solana memecoins like WIF and BONK. On-chain data shows interest and accumulation by whales, which bodes well for the future of the project. The $PENGU token release has allowed Pudgy Penguin NFTs to skyrocket in value, with its price floor now above that of BAYC. Other legacy profile picture NFT collections will likely try to emulate this success through their own airdrops or other form of holder privilege.
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