Pudgy Penguins: A Case Study
From Digital Collectibles to Global Brand: The Unstoppable Rise of Pudgy Penguins.
This report is cross-posted from Blockcrunch VIP and was originally published on February 28, 2024.
Blockcrunch VIP is a premium research newsletter on the most important crypto projects and trends, prepared by top crypto analysts (like yours truly) twice a month. Only posts by the author will be cross-posted to this blog a month after publishing, so be sure to subscribe to the Blockcrunch newsletter if you want actionable insights in a timely manner!
Disclosure: The author does not currently hold any Pudgy Penguins NFTs or related collections.
Opening scene.
It’s 2024. You walk into a Walmart to do some last minute shopping for your niece’s birthday and you see these cute penguin plushy toys. “These look cute!” you think to yourself, as you grab one and head to the checkout line. On the way there, you check your phone, and your girlfriend has responded to your “gm” text with a cute GIF (pronounced “GIF”, not “JIF”) of a pudgy-looking penguin.
“Wait, this looks familiar,” you say to yourself as you bring the plushy toy you just picked out next to your phone to compare. A jingle starts to play on the LED screen on the wall, catching your attention, “Pudgyyyy, Pudgy Peeeeenguins!” On the screen you see some Fortnight gameplay with the same cute, pudgy penguins being showcased.
End scene.
Did you miss something? When did these darn Pudgy Penguins take over the world?
Despite what the Chinese zodiac might suggest, 2024 is proving to be the year of the Penguin. The Pudgy Penguin collection has achieved the highest cumulative returns since November 2023 among the top five profile picture (PFP) based collections, excluding Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) derivatives like MAYC, according to data from CoinGecko. The returns have soared to over 400%, more than 2.6 times higher than the next top performer, Mad Lads. The Pudgy Penguins are now the third-largest NFT collection by market capitalization, excluding its derivatives, with a floor price of around 20 ETH.
What was the catalyst for this run? Will they continue on to dethrone blue chips Crypto Punks and BAYC? What are they doing that’s different from everyone?
Read on to find out as we dive into this and more in the report.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Ian's Intel to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.