Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 adorable penguins that live as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. The project launched in July 2021 and sold out in just 20 minutes.
In late 2021, the team introduced a second collection called "Lil' Pudgys". The "Lil' Pudgys" consist of 22,222 pieces which were launched along with the pudgy rods. The Pudgy project gained significant recognition among NFT projects with the release of plush penguins, available in stores such as Walmart and Smyths Toystore.
Breaking out of the traditional NFT market
The Pudgy approach relies heavily on online presence and memes, which are widely used in the NFT community and beyond. Animated images (GIFs) from the Pudgy Penguins collection have been viewed nearly 10 billion times and the Instagram account has gained 1 million followers.
The project is also working on its metaverse, 'Pudgy World'. Each physical toy box contains a QR code that takes users into the metaverse. By scanning the QR code, the toy's owner can unlock properties (NFTs) to personalise their own Pudgy Penguin.
It has been suggested that the next major step for the project is the launch of its own licensing platform, NFT Overpass. The Overpass project addresses the challenges of blockchain-based NFT licensing in Web3, and aims to provide solutions for NFT dynamics.