Pudgy Penguins have been on a spiral since they were featured on the cover. Pudgy Penguins, which was formerly a cute page image NFT series, was eventually overshadowed by its founder before becoming a mainstream success, with qualified toys appearing on the shelves of Walmart and Target stores all over the country. &nbsp,

The collection and its ecosystem of companions, which were launched in 2021 as part of the NFT boom, have become the face of Web3, giving millions of social impressions, and expanding beyond the comparatively small number of crypto participants on X ( previously known as Twitter ). &nbsp,

How’s all you need to know about Pudgy Penguins. &nbsp,

What are Pudgy Penguins?

A collection of 8, 888 flightless parrot NFTs, Pudgy Penguins initially launched in July 2021, selling out shortly after release for a value of 0.03 ETH, or about$ 90 at the time, according to statistics from NFT Price Floor. &nbsp,

After journalist Kevin Roose shared his experience in” joining the Huddle,” the collection rapidly gained notoriety and appeared on the New York Times ‘ support in August 2021.

In just a few weeks after its basil, the series held a ground price, or the lowest detailed property on the market, of more than$ 6, 000 according to NFT Price Floor. In the course of the following six months, as a result of NFT mania subsides and some turmoil in its community, the price would drop to$ 1,000, which may cause the company’s founder to lose his position of authority. &nbsp,

Everything starts to change.

In part because of criticisms of its venture founder, Cole Villemain, who is known as ColeThereum on X, the Pudgy Penguins neighborhood grew in the first few months of 2022. &nbsp,

More widespread allegations of incompetence resulted in hostility between the establishment team and the community. &nbsp,

The initiative held a group vote to end Villemain and receive takeover offers from the community as frustration with the group grew more acute. &nbsp,

One present came from Netz Capital’s Luca Netz, who formally offered around$ 2.5 million, or 750 ETH, in January 2022. &nbsp,

Months later, Netz tweeted that he was “looking forward to spreading like” and that offer was accepted, and he agreed to pay the project and the amount.

After Netz ‘ acquisition, the Pudgy Penguins floor price quickly rebounded, jumping from about$ 4, 300 on the day of the news to$ 8, 900 three days later. &nbsp,

Under new management, the project immediately created a new strategy and set off on the path to establishing itself as a leading NFT task. &nbsp,

Pudgy Penguins: from NFTs to products

Launching a Pudgy Toys series was one of the first big efforts spearheaded by the fresh management. &nbsp,

In July 2022, the project made its plans to collaborate with PMI Toys, which had previously granted Pudgy Penguin NFTs as a license through its OverpassIP task, allowing owners to profit straight from the use of their Pudgy NFTs in professional projects like the physical toys. &nbsp,

The second toyline launched in May 2023 and could be purchased immediately on Amazon, but it eventually expanded to include key financial partnerships with Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and more. &nbsp,

Just a year after rollout, Pudgy Toys had sold more than 750, 000 units, according to the company, bringing in more than$ 10 million in the process. &nbsp,

establishing the brand Pudgy Penguins

Since Netz took over, Pudgy Penguins have worked hard to spread the brand and reach as many people as possible all over the world. &nbsp,

Pudgy Penguins ‘ main goal has always been to expand their social media channels to more people. The project had around 100,000 Instagram followers in July 2022, but it has since increased to 1.7 million as of January 2025, accumulating more than 39 billion GIF shares, according to GIPHY data. &nbsp,

When it raised$ 9 million in 2023 shortly after signing with talent agency WME, efforts to grow the brand were boosted. &nbsp,

Since that time, it’s also gone on to notch collaborations with brands like PEZ, CD Castellon, and Last Crumb ( as well as MYRIAD, the prediction market from ‘s parent company DASTAN ).

PENGU: The Pudgy Penguins token

The project announced in November 2024 that an ecosystem token would be released on Solana to better align incentives between the brand and its supporters. Pudgy Penguin NFT holders, a variety of other Web3 communities, and active crypto participants, were able to claim the PENGU token. &nbsp,

The token launched in December 2024, granting holders of Pudgy Penguins NFTs with 1.7 million PENGU tokens, worth more than$ 100, 000 at the token’s all-time high as recorded by CoinGecko.

Beyond Pudgy Penguins: the other NFTs

It’s not just “big Pudgys” that make up the Penguin NFT ecosystem. &nbsp,

Lil Pudgys

With the release of Lil Pudgys, the Pudgy Penguin ecosystem began to expand. &nbsp,

For each of the 8, 888 Pudgy Penguins NFTs, a companion could be claimed for free, with a further batch of Lil Pudgys going on sale for a total of 22, 222 smaller copies of the original NFT. &nbsp,

In January 2023, the collection went” cross-chain” as part of the project’s partnership with interoperability platform LayerZero. In an effort to expand the Penguin IP, Holders were able to transport their Lil ‘ Pudgys via a bridge. &nbsp,

” By enabling the Lil Pudgys to go cross-chain, we’re setting up the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem to reach millions of people”, the project wrote. &nbsp,

Lil Pudgys can bridge from Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum, Polygon, or Binance Smart Chain. &nbsp,

Pudgy Rods ( Rogs ) &nbsp,

In 2021, Pudgy Penguin owners received a collection of fishing rod NFTs. &nbsp,

The collection was initially titled” Pudgy Presents,” but after fishing rods hatched from the eggs that had previously been used to compile the metadata for the NFTs, it was changed to Pudgy Rods. &nbsp,

The community was irritated by the mismatch of fishing rods hatching from an egg, which heightened the tension between the founding team and the ecosystem participants that arose in late 2021. &nbsp,

The Rods have since been called the third NFT in the Pudgy hierarchy, giving holders the same benefits as the first Pudgys, but with smaller scales, as a PENGU token claim. &nbsp,

The future of Pudgy Penguins

Netz has big plans for the project going forward, despite the project already having significant accomplishments to its name. &nbsp,

The project’s parent company, Igloo Inc., is actively building out Pudgy Worlda Web3 playground and storytelling universe that houses mini-games and customizable Penguins with a direct link to Pudgy Toys, which provide a QR code to get new users onboarded. &nbsp,

Beyond Pudgy World, the project is also developing Pudgy Party, a mobile royale game created in collaboration with Mythical Games.

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