Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, created to promote Web3 innovation through intellectual property and community involvement. The project emphasizes themes like empathy, positivity, and inclusivity. It gained early mainstream attention after launching in July 2021 and quickly selling out. Leadership later transitioned to Luca "Netz" Schnetzler, under whom the project expanded into physical products, media initiatives, and digital engagement tools. ^{[1] [12] [23]}

History

Pudgy Penguins launched on July 23, 2021, as a collection of 8,888 NFTs, each minted for 0.03 ETH and sold out within 20 minutes. The collection featured cartoon penguins assembled from randomized traits, including hats, glasses, hairstyles, and clothing. In August 2021, the project gained mainstream attention when New York Times journalist Kevin Roose published a piece about Pudgy Penguins and the Metaverse, shortly after Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian purchased one of the NFTs. The team airdropped “egg” NFTs to holders that same month, teasing a future reveal. However, when the eggs hatched on December 25, 2021, they revealed only images of fishing rods—Pudgy Rods—with no announced utility. This led to backlash from the community, who saw the release as poorly executed or even a rug pull. To regain trust, the founders released a follow-up collection called Lil Pudgys, offering free claims to existing holders and making 13,334 additional NFTs available to the public through auction. ^[12]

Founding Team Ousting

In 2022, following the backlash from the Pudgy Rods release and growing frustration with the founding team’s lack of execution, several community members began calling for new leadership. According to 9x9x9eth, a major holder and founder of OpenDAO, co-founder ColeThereum had promised developments such as a game, a token, and an educational NFT book. However, by early 2022, the team had still not built the infrastructure to deliver. 9x9x9 later claimed that the founders attempted to sell the project to him for 888 ETH, which he declined. This triggered a wave of buyout interest, with offers from figures like Mintable co-founder Zach Burks, collector @beaniemax, and Netz Capital's Luca Netz. The situation escalated to the point where Cole asked the Pudgy Penguins community to vote on whether he should step down, and the majority supported his removal. ^{[8] [9]}

New Leadership

In April 2022, Luca "Netz" Schnetzler officially acquired the Pudgy Penguins project for 750 ETH, marking a change in leadership following community pressure to replace the founders. Schnetzler, who had prior experience building multiple consumer brands, saw potential in Pudgy Penguins as a recognizable IP.

"Pudgy Penguins was my first PFP NFT and I knew when I first bought it that Pudgy Penguins had the highest upside when it came to brand potential. When I saw other people bidding on Pudgy Penguins I knew I had to step in. I’ve built multiple brands to 9 figures in revenue over the last 5 years and I felt like my skill set was the best to succeed at the job." ^[10]

Within four months of the acquisition, the new team launched initiatives such as Pudgy Media, expanded the brand’s social media presence, introduced products like Soulbound Tokens, penguPins, and Pudgy Toys, and hosted events including the Pudgy Yacht Party. The project also established a nine-member advisory board featuring executives from companies like Nansen, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Hasbro. ^[12]

Products

Marketplace

In June 2022, Pudgy Penguins released their own marketplace. This enabled any user to purchase NFTs from all of the Pudgy Penguins sets from any NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2, and NFTX on the official website of the Pudgy Penguins marketplace. In addition, the marketplace also offers Lil Pudgys and Pudgys Rods as well.^[2][7]

truePengu

On July 22, 2022, to mark its first anniversary, Pudgy Penguins released its first Soulbound token, truePengu, on the Ethereum blockchain using the ERC-1155 standard. This non-transferable token was created to reflect user engagement and categorize holders based on the assets they held during a snapshot. Holders of a Pudgy Penguin, Lil Pudgy, and Pudgy Rod with matching ID numbers received the Ice truePengu token; those with both a Pudgy Penguin and a Lil Pudgy received the Iridescent version; and those who held only a Pudgy Penguin were given the Gold truePengu. The goal was to begin developing a framework for quantifying identity in Web3 while becoming one of the early adopters of Soulbound tokens in the NFT space. ^{[17] [25]}

penguPins

On August 12, 2022, penguPins, the team's second soulbound token, was released. The penguPins are identifiers for one's involvement and digital impact in Pudgy Penguins' initiatives. Sixteen penguPins were airdropped to each wallet of the individuals licensing their Penguins for the physical toy deal with PMI Toys. ^[18]

On September 30, 2022, the newest PenguPin, honoring the Pudgy Penguineers, was airdropped to community developers working with the Pudgy Developers team. ^[19]

Pudgy Toys

On August 10, 2022, Pudgy Penguins announced that holders would be able to license their NFTs for use in a physical toy line called Pudgy Toys, created in partnership with PMI, a company known for producing toys for franchises like Fortnite and Among Us. The announcement led to a sharp increase in trading volume. The first line of Pudgy Toys launched on May 18, 2023, and generated over $500,000 in sales within two days, with more than 20,000 units sold. Previewed at NFT NYC, the toys quickly became the top-selling new release in Amazon’s Toddler Stuffed Animals & Toys category.

According to Netz, the toys were intended as a sustainable revenue model to expand the brand beyond the NFT space. The initial product run included 100,000 toys priced between $5 and $35, with 16 SKUs licensed directly from NFT holders, who earn royalties from each sale. Each toy has a QR code linking to Pudgy World, an online platform where users can customize avatars, unlock traits, and engage with others. ^{[28] [29]}

Short Film

In September 2022, Pudgy Penguins shared its first iteration of the project's storytime vision, Chapter One: The Great Blizzard, a short film created in partnership with Non-Fungible Films. The video shows different Pudgy Penguin characters, who are officially licensed for the film by the project. After the release, the collection was also featured on the homepage of OpenSea below the subheading Storytelling NFTs. The team also introduced the Penguins selected for Pudgy Children’s Book in collaboration with Green Kids Club. ^[20]

Pudgy Media

After the appointment of the new CEO Luca Netz, the management team successfully established Pudgy Media as a centralized hub for all Pudgy-related content. Pudgy Media covers blogs, GIFs, encyclopedias, videos, walkmans, tools, memes, and clubs. The new CEO used this as his main platform to post AMAs, where he discusses his view on the ecosystem's future and the development of the Pudgy roadmap. ^[24]

Pudgy Penguins Asia Huddle

In September 2022, the Pudgy Penguins community ambassador, DegenDen, managed to expand the Pudgy Penguins' presence in Asia. The community held an event in Singapore with more than 120 participants. ^[20]

Pudgy Penguins Korea

In January 2023, Pudgy Penguins Korea was founded by Sook Hwang, the Korean representative in the Pudgy Asia Council. Pudgy Penguins Korea is the official Pudgy Penguins huddle based in South Korea. It was created to welcome newcomers and provide an active community for existing members in Korea. They have also been actively hosting/attending blockchain events in South Korea, such as HelloNFT and Nile ART Studio, and hosting multiple side events for Korea Blockchain Week. ^{[31] [32]}

Pudgy Penguins Seed Funding

In May 2023, Pudgy Penguins raised over $9 million in seed funding in a round led by 1kx, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. Investors in the round also included Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, the creators behind LayerZero Labs, Old Fashion Research, and CRIT Ventures. Pudgy Penguins has said it will use the funds to expand its intellectual property, bolster its team, and improve its offerings for the community. ^[27]

PENGU

PENGU is the native token of Pudgy Penguins, designed to support engagement within its ecosystem. It is used to access digital assets, community events, and exclusive experiences. The total and maximum supply of PENGU is approximately 88.8 billion tokens. It has the following distribution: ^{[33] [34]}

• Pudgy Community: 25.9%
• Other Communities: 24.12%
• Current & Future Team: 17.8%
• Liquidity: 12.35%
• Company: 11.48%
• Public Good: 4%
• Proliferation: 4%