Pudgy Penguins is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection of 8,888 adorable penguins living on the Ethereum blockchain. The project was launched in July 2021 and sold out in just 20 minutes. However, after heavy disappointment which resulted in the community ousting the founding team, the project changed course.
Pudgy Penguins experienced a significant change in leadership in 2022, when Luca Netz famously offered 750 ETH (about $2.5 million) to take over the project in January 2022. The acquisition took place in April 2022 under Netz Capital. As the new CEO, Netz made notable progress for the project, securing a $9 million seed funding round led by 1kx and acquiring licensing deals to create physical toys based on the Penguin NFT IP, solidifying its position as a prominent brand.
750 ETH for @Pudgy_Penguins by the NFT degenerates. Make your move @ColeThereum
— Luca Netz đ§ (@LucaNetz) January 6, 2022
Key events in the Pudgy Penguin timeline
- July 2021: Launch of the Pudgy Penguins
- December 2021: Free-to-claim rod (rog) collection
- December 2021: Launch of Lil' Pudgy collection
- January 2022: Removal of the original founding team
- April 2022: Acquired by Netz Capital
- End of 2022: Secured $9 million seed funding from 1kx
- May 2023: Announcement of physical toy launch based on holder NFTs
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Beginning of the Pudgy Penguins
The Pudgy Penguins collection was launched in the 2021 NFT bull market by a team of collaborators, the most notable of whom go by the web aliases Cole and Mr Tubby. The launch was a resounding success, with the entire collection selling out in less than 20 minutes. Floor prices surged to a record high of 2.49 ETH, roughly equivalent to $7k at that time.
However, at the end of the year sentiment in the Pudgy community started to shift. The breaking point was the highly anticipated release of the Fishing Rods in December 2021, which turned out to be a massive disappointment. The Pudgy Rods, also known as "rogs", were distributed as free NFTs on August 30th 2021, and unveiled four months later on Christmas Day. After an intense build-up of, many considered the reveal a massive disappointment. The anticipated NFTs ended up being basic fishing rods misspelled as "rogs".
Around the same time as the rod unveil, the team dropped a second collection "Lil' Pudgys", of 22,222 pieces. 8,888 could be claimed for free by Pudgy owners, the remaining 13,334 were sold in a public sale. Holders gained access to experiences, events, IP licensing opportunities, and additional benefits, similar to those of their first-generation counterparts.
Project turnaround and revival
Following community discontent over unfulfilled development promises and accusations of a cash grab, the project was acquired by Luca Netz. Since then, under Netz's leadership, Pudgy Penguins has not only maintained its operations, but also grown its community and ecosystem. Luca Netz has pointed out that many NFT projects have a critical flaw in their quest for revenue. The only resort is often the creation of more NFTs. Unfortunately, this is at the expense of both the larger community and the overall success of the project.
To combat this dilemma, the project expanded its offerings with the launch of Pudgy Toys, which are now available on major retail platforms such as Walmart, Amazon or Smyths Toy Store. The toy's debut in May this year was a monumental success, with 20,000 toys sold out, raising around $500,000.
Today is the beginning of a new era for Web3.
Weâre happy to announce that Pudgy Toys and Pudgy World are now available. pic.twitter.com/UKbkIAJzvS
— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) May 18, 2023
It's been hinted that the next big step for the project is the launch of its own licensing platform, NFT Overpass. Project Overpass tackles the challenges of blockchain based NFT licensing in web3, providing solutions to NFT dynamics. Initially exclusive to the Pudgy community, the project emphasises user engagement, with plans to extend its impact to other communities, establishing Pudgy Penguins as a leader in scalable web3 solutions. Pudgy NFT owners are already using their NFT for brand building and product identity as done by the Swiss company PURU with its own brand penguin.
"NFTs and especially Pudgy Penguins with their upcoming Overpass IP project, that could improve the process to do cross brand licensing, can revolutionise the way traditional brands can use self owned IP with a proven desirable art design. Captain PURU is a self-made licensable character created within the ecosystem of viral social media content company Pudgy Penguins." - Sylvain Horwood, Founder of PURU 100% Natural Personal Care company
The Pudgy community
The Pudgy approach relies heavily on the use of online presence and memes which are widespread in the NFT community and beyond. Animated pictures (GIFs) of the Pudgy Penguins collection have been viewed nearly 10 billion times and their Instagram accounted has garnered close to 1 million followers.
The project is also working on their metaverse "Pudgy World". Inside every physical toy box, there is a QR code leading users to the metaverse. By scanning the QR code the owner of the toy unlocks traits (NFTs) to personalise their own pudgy penguin. The virtual penguin is minted as a soulbound (non-transferrable) NFT on the blockchain. The technology is powered by zkSync, an Ethereum protocol for low-cost payments powered by zkRollup technology. This process allows gasless (free) minting, and lowers the entry barrier by automatically generating a smart contract wallet together with the user account.
Apart from the online space, Pudgy holders organise themselves in independent sub-communities, but have to follow certain guidelines. Details of the guidelines can be found in the "Brand Bible". The communities are organised by region or trait of pudgy the holder owns. Major sub-communities are "Pudgy Penguins Europe", "Pudgy Penguins Asia" or "Pudgylicious". These communities are used as networking groups, where holders ideate on how to apply the Pudgy IP and are the driving force for local Pudgy related events.
"Pudgy Europe embodies an eclectic blend of community-driven passion and love for innovation, where we host events and participate in conferences to bring the local community together and help each other build initiatives since we share the same objectives." - Fifi, Leader of Pudgy Penguins Europe
