Top NFT Brand Pudgy Penguins to Release PENGU Token

A heavyweight from the once-hot NFT period is now stepping into the cryptocurrency issuance recreation.

Pudgy Penguins launched three years in the past as a set of 8,888 NFTs depicting colourful and comical birds.

Now, the workforce behind the undertaking tells CoinDesk that they may launch a token known as PENGU this 12 months on the Solana blockchain.

Practically 1 / 4 — 23.5% — of the 88 billion PENGU tokens shall be reserved for house owners of the undertaking’s NFT collections like Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, Pudgy Rods and extra. An additional 22.02% shall be obtainable to the Solana and Ethereum communities, whereas 12.32% are put aside to offer liquidity on decentralized exchanges.

“With $PENGU, the hundreds of thousands of Pudgy Penguin followers and the a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of people that see and share the Pudgy Penguin day-after-day now get the chance to align themselves with the character and grow to be part of The Huddle,” the workforce shared in a press release.
Pudgy is among the many uncommon collections that managed to remain culturally related within the in any other case dreadful NFT enterprise following the worth crash from the 2021-2022 bull market. Many NFTs lacked actual utility past being a digital brag. It was additionally troublesome to completely understand positive factors after value bumps — as market liquidity was typically insufficient to fill orders.

The pivot comes as enjoyable tokens and memecoins, in contrast to NFTs, have taken off and flourished within the final two years. Liquidity, relative cheapness, virality and ease-of-use are key the reason why individuals have flocked to those newest sizzling asset courses — regardless that enjoyable tokens and memecoins essentially characterize the identical concept as NFT collections did: belonging to a passionate neighborhood.

Official Pudgy Penguins channels have over 3 million followers throughout Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube, and movies involving the characters have notched 32 billion views on Giphy.

One of many model’s TikTok accounts is concentrated on spreading good vibes beneath the “Pudgy Kindness” moniker — popularizing it as a feel-good service within the mainstream, outdoors of crypto circles.

It goes past screens too. Dad or mum firm Igloo final 12 months launched Pudgy Toys, a toy line primarily based on the digital artwork assortment, and has since bought greater than $10 million in collectible igloos and plushies which can be carried at main retailers, together with Walmart, Goal, Amazon and Walgreens.

Pudgy Penguins is the third-largest NFT assortment by market capitalization — $550 million in complete — as of Thursday, knowledge reveals, trailing solely CryptoPunks and Bored Apes Yacht Membership. The gathering got here to life in 2021, and every penguin is hand-drawn and options numerous distinct traits equivalent to backgrounds, physique, face, head and pores and skin.