After Pudgy Toys debuted on Amazon on May 18, the floor price of the cute Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) project shot up over 6 Ethereumย (ETH). Now, with the launch of Pudgy World and the addition of the collection to the Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) lending platform Blend, it is continuing to build momentum.
Pudgy Penguins, a non-fungible cryptoย token (NFT) project made up of cute chubby birds, has experienced waves of success and mishap since its debut in July 2021, including a rapid downturn in price and sentiment as doubts surrounding the founders resurfaced thereafter that year.
The community of holders, known as Pengus or โthe Huddle,โ was upset that the founders had failed to deliver on the projectโs original roadmap. Their feathers were further ruffled after accusations arose that the founders had drained funds from the treasury.
This led to some very angry birds in the Huddle, who moved to oust the founders in a community vote in January 2022. This is where most Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) stories end โ the high-flying promises and hopes get grounded by bad actors and all that remains is a community united by disappointment.
Onย theย otherย hand, this bird tale found a different flight path: In April 2022, a Los Angeles entrepreneur and member of the Huddle himself, Luca Netz, swooped in and led the buy of the brand for 750 Ethereumย (ETH), or $2.5 Million at the time, with a promise to build out the brand and foster better communication. A little greaterย than a year thereafter, new investments, real-life toys and a rebound in Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs) sales have restored the penguin NFTsโ ethos of โgood vibes and positivity for everyoneโ and helped the penguin prices hit new heights.
The penguinsโ march to success
After Luca Netz and the new team took over the project, they laid out their plans to focus on building out the projectโs intellectual property (IP) and โto be the brand that leads the way in onboarding people from Web2 into Web3.โ Inย contrastย toย the original founders, they took steps toย begin putting that roadmap in place, announcing during the summer of 2022 that they would be creating toys accordingย to the penguin Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs) and releasing a childrenโs book.
In an interview with CoinDesk Television, Netz stated that he was โa company believer that IP is going to be the Trojan Horse for really bringing hundreds of millions of people into cryptocurrency and into Web3.โ
โFor them toย joinย the space, theyโre going to have to fall in love with a character and this character to us is Pudgy Penguins,โ he said.
The mood and momentum had shifted, leading to a new record-breakingย peak sale in August and a Christmastime rally in December 2022, regardlessย of the overall cryptocurrency winter.
In May 2023, they announced a new $9 Million financing round and shortly after, launched the promised toys, which reportedly sold 20,000 units in severalย days and sent the floor price of the project soaring to 6.2 Ethereumย (ETH) on May 20, 2023, reportsย by data from Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) marketplace OpenSea.
In tandem with the toys, the team unveiled Pudgy World, which connects peopleโs real-life toy purchases with the digital world and onboards them to Webย 3.0 in a frictionless way โ the very โTrojan Horseโ Netz spoke about creating. Toy buyers who register with an email address receive Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs) and a cryptocurrency wallet without even realizing it, easing the otherwise burdensome process of setting up and financing a cryptocurrency wallet.
Rounding out a strong 1st half of 2023, Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) lending platform Blend announced the inclusion of Pudgy Penguins onto their platform, further legitimizing its place between other trending collections like Azuki and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
The Huddle is key
Althoughย while the list of Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) projects that looked like theย following big thing and then flamed out is vast, thereย is a much narrower group of projects that got past a dark, icy winter. So what went right for these penguins?
In Webย 3.0, the power of the community shouldnโt be underestimated. Netz and the leadership team understood they required to earn their trust and support or they could suffer the same destiny as the founders.
To that end, the team made good on their promises to provide โmonthly updates for penguins who may have been fishing in a caveโ on their blog and give regular updates onย Twitterย platform and Discord asย well. Further, they empowered the community to create subcommunities or clans and planned real-life and virtual events to connect the community.
On the opposite end, Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) projects like Greaterย than Gamers have suffered from unclear communication and a general lack of transparency, while the Pixelmon Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) promised the โ largest and highest quality gameโ and delivered what even they had to admit was laughably bad art. Neither has managed to bounce back as of writing.
The Huddle is likewise able to share in the Pudgy Penguinsโ success. Part of the DNA of the project is allowing holders to leverage their IP and profit off their penguins, whether through licensing or other deals.
Luca Netz stated on a Twitter Spaces with Blur Founder Pacman on May 25 that the toys wereย made with the โIP of 16 different holders.โ He alsoย mentionedย that he felt it was his and the teamโs responsibility toย assist the community to monetize and find licensing opportunities as the average individual doesnโt have any idea of how to causeย a licensing deal successful.
Similarly, Webย 3.0 giant Yuga Labs has given the holders of Bored Apes and other Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs) in their catalog full commercial rights to the IP of those Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs), and has seen some launches by entrepreneurial holders such as branded restaurants, beverages, clothing and even musicians using Apes as avatars.
Only time will tell if the project will continue to see success, but theย present forecast looks promising. As of writing, Pudgy Penguin Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFTs) have done a total of 170,457 Ethereumย (ETH) in volumeย ofย trading (over $300 million) and have a floor price of 5.4 Ethereumย (ETH), or about $9,700.
Rosie Perper.
