Recently, many crypto companies, including Coinbase and OpenSea, have changed their social media profile pictures to Pudgy Penguins, which has not only sparked heated discussions in the market, but also doubled the price of their NFT floor and $PENGU coins. VanEck Web3 director explained that the success of the fat penguin does not lie in its historical status, but in its cultural appeal.
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ToggleA review of the crypto industry's fat penguin avatar craze: Coinbase and OpenSea lead the way
On Saturday, the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem saw significant activity, led by the US exchange Coinbase and OpenSea, the former leader in the NFT market. This activity was mainly focused on major crypto companies expressing their support for the platform by changing their social media profile pictures (PFP).
Subsequently, including Binance US, Kraken, Crypto.com, Phantom, MoonPay, Ledger and Coingecko, almost all exchanges, wallet providers, payment providers and data companies changed their profile pictures to fat penguin and joined in (some companies have now replaced them, probably because Tron founder Justin Sun also released his own fat penguin PFP).
This whirlwind was quickly reflected in its NFT floor price and PENGU 's coin price. The former rose from 8.8 ETH to the current 14.19 ETH in three days, and the latter rose from around US$0.015 to US$0.3, an increase of 61.3% and 100% respectively.
Based on NFT but not talking about NFT: Why can Fat Penguin reach the public?
As the biggest ambassador of Pudgy Penguins, Matt Bartlett, director of VanEck Web3, wrote an article to explain why the fat penguin is different: " People care about culture, not historical significance. "
He pointed out that CryptoPunks, as the originator of the NFT world, undoubtedly has a lofty historical status. It not only established the significance of NFT as a PFP, but is also regarded as a classic of digital art. However, it is always too far away from ordinary users. The price and concept make it difficult for people to get close to it and participate in it. It is even more difficult for brands to play a role - it is a cultural relic, not a role.
(Towards the end of art: the legendary NFT CryptoPunks was transferred to the NODE Foundation )
In addition, BAYC(BAYC) once became popular with its wild rich style, combining global superstar marketing with club activities and other topic hype, creating a brief cultural peak of Web3. But this momentum did not last long. As the NFT craze subsided, BAYC's high-end image gradually became out of touch with civilian society.
"Now look at Pudgy Penguins," Bartlett said. "They're cute, innocent, and GIF-friendly. They're safe and acceptable for children and the general public."
Pudgy Penguins does not deliberately emphasize the elements of Web3, but starts from the brand itself and strives to be likable. This kind of culture is something that everyone can participate in.
Fat Penguin won’t bring the NFT market back, BAYC will
NFT veteran @jbondwagon analyzed that the reason why Fat Penguin can become popular in the Web2 world is that it is not positioned as an NFT. Instead, it started to penetrate from social media stickers, emoticons, and GIFs, and users don’t even know that this is an NFT project.
However, he also admitted that the success of Fat Penguin is a combination of brand strategy and cultural resonance, so it will not affect the recovery of the overall NFT market . On the other hand, BAYC, as a representative indicator of the market, is tied to the entire industry regardless of success or failure.
When NFTs soar, the media will praise BAYC as a symbol of wealth; when NFTs break, society will take pleasure in mocking BAYC. If we want NFTs to make a comeback, we need to bring BAYC back and prove that NFTs can win.
Legendary artwork or GIF meme: Popular culture is not necessarily cheap
Matt Bartlett emphasized that the fat penguin has no historical baggage and does not pursue a high position. It chooses to be close to the public and integrate into daily life. This strategy has allowed it to break free from the NFT bubble and even become a new image representative of companies such as Coinbase and OpenSea.
Punks is a classic work of art, BAYC is a trendy story for the rich, but fat penguins are a culture that is more suitable for the general public. Today, Pudgy Penguins has successfully found its own position.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries a high degree of risk. Its price may fluctuate drastically and you may lose all your capital. Please assess the risk carefully.
The NFT market has been bleak for a long time, but it has recently stirred up waves again. Data shows that the overall NFT transaction volume exceeded 140 million US dollars last week, setting a new high since the beginning of this year. Among them, Ethereum performed the best. At the same time, the legendary NFT project CryptoPunks saw a large number of large investors sweeping millions of dollars, which also caused heated discussions in the market. Is this wave of recovery a short-term rebound, or a precursor to a new round of NFT bull market?
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ToggleNFT market transaction volume hits a six-month high, with Ethereum being the most active
After several months of downturn, the NFT market has ushered in a long-awaited highlight. The Block data shows that the total chain NFT transaction volume reached US$143.5 million in the past week, which has returned to the level of January this year.
Among them, Ethereum's weekly transaction volume of $75 million ranked first, accounting for more than half of the market share, which was a surge of more than 300% compared with the performance of only $18.3 million two weeks ago. At the same time, Bitcoin NFT also increased from 11 million to 25.6 million, showing a warming trend.
It can be clearly seen from the NFTGO data that the overall market has seen a significant increase in floor price, 24-hour trading volume and transaction volume, among which CryptoPunks, Squiggle, Moonbirds and other projects have performed the best.
ETH surge drives NFT market recovery, CryptoPunks big players rush to buy
The recovery of the NFT market is closely related to the recent rise in ETH prices. Since the beginning of July, the price of ETH has risen by nearly 50%. The price recovery has also prompted the NFT market to become active again. Yesterday, a new wallet of a whalebought 45 CryptoPunks in a short period of time, spending 2,082 ETH (about 5.87 million US dollars).
(Towards the end of art: the legendary NFT CryptoPunks was transferred to the NODE Foundation )
This move not only pushed up the floor price of CryptoPunks to 46 ETH (about 175,000 US dollars), but also attracted market attention, causing people including Garga.eth , co-founder of Yuga Labs, the parent company of BAYC, and Yano , co-founder of Blockworks, to follow the recent hot topics and hype the relevant news of NFT reserve companies.
Blue chips regain their footing: Yuga Labs reshapes its strategy, and PENGU actively markets its IP
The changes in the NFT field are not only in data, but also in large blue-chip projects. Yuga Labs, the parent company of BAYC(BAYC), recently sold the ownership of its IPs such as Moonbirds, Meebits, and CryptoPunks, and turned to focus on the development of its own metaverse platform Otherside, symbolizing the redistribution of resources.
( Yuga Labs Auction: Moonbirds sells game startup, refocuses on BAYC and Otherside )
On the other hand, Pudgy Penguins, which has been very popular recently, has not only put a lot of effort into marketing exposure, but its official token PENGU has also submitted an ETF application to the SEC through Canary Capital. If successfully approved, it will become the first fund product directly linked to the NFT ecosystem.
Bubble rebound or the starting point of a new NFT cycle?
Although the NFT market transaction volume still shows a sluggish trend of -50.9% in one year, with the recent signals of ETH capital outflow, data recovery, and project re-adjustment of strategy, it is indeed expected to release the potential for market recovery. Whether this wave of rebound is a short-term hot money effect or a new starting point for the NFT bull market is also worthy of continued attention.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries a high degree of risk. Its price may fluctuate drastically and you may lose all your capital. Please assess the risk carefully.
Pudgy Pengu recently announced a partnership with Chinese trendy toy company Suplay, a trendy IP consumer product company that takes care of everything from IP to distribution, with millions of users, and has worked with well-known IPs such as the Forbidden City, Sanrio, Genshin Impact, and Disney. PENGU's recent success is attributed to its popularity. The partnership with the trendy toy brand may also symbolize that Pudgy Pengu may, like LABUBU and other IPs, move from virtual culture to reality and become the next trendy consumer product with viral marketing.
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ToggleFat Penguin joins hands with Sanrio and Disney's exclusive trendy toy brand Suplay
Suplay was founded at the end of 2019. The official website describes it as a trendy IP consumer product company covering the entire IP and channel industry chain. Suplay started as an online mini-program, has accumulated nearly one million users in all channels, and has cooperated with more than 800 mainstream trendy toy designer brands and studios at home and abroad.
From 2020 to 2022, 10 STF online live streaming trendy toy exhibitions were held through mini-program live streaming, with a total live streaming audience exceeding 3 million. Suplay has incubated and cooperated with industry-leading trendy toy IPs such as Kiki, Shuibodan, OHO, and Winni, and has also cooperated with well-known IPs in various fields such as the Palace Museum Culture, Sanrio, Genshin Impact, and Disney.
VanEck Director: PENGU’s success is attributed to a culture that is closer to the masses
The trend of Pudgy Penguins has been rising recently. The price of PENGU has increased by more than 700% since the low point in April, and NFT has also rebounded to the floor price of 14.65 ETH. One of the reasons behind this is that VanEck, an asset management company that strongly embraces Web3, brought Pudgy Penguins to the Nasdaq stage and rang the opening bell. Subsequently, companies including Coinbase, OpenSea, Binance US, Kraken, Crypto.com, Phantom, MoonPay, Ledger and Coingecko also changed their avatars to Pudgy Penguins PFP.
What is the reason for PENGU's success? Can it revive the glory of NFT? How is it different from BAYC? Matt Bartlett, director of VanEck Web3, explained why the fat BAYC is different: "People care about culture, not historical significance." CryptoPunk, BAYC, etc. have historical significance and laid the foundation for the concept of PFP, but their culture is too far away from people, and the price makes it difficult for the general public to participate.
NFT veteran @jbondwagon analyzed that the reason why Fat Penguin can become popular in the Web2 world is that it is not positioned as an NFT, but started to penetrate from social media stickers, emoticons, and GIFs, and users don’t even know that this is an NFT project.
The cooperation with trendy toy brands may symbolize that Fat Penguin may move from virtual culture to reality like LABUBU and other IPs, and become the next trendy consumer product with viral marketing.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries a high degree of risk. Its price may fluctuate drastically and you may lose all your capital. Please assess the risk carefully.
American hip-hop mogul Snoop Dogg launched a series of NFTs on the TON chain, and sold nearly one million in just 30 minutes, sending a bombshell to the long-sluggish NFT market. This wave of cooperation was also interpreted by some industry insiders as "the starting point of a new narrative for NFTs."
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ToggleSnoop Dogg and Telegram jointly launched NFT, earning 12 million Mg in 30 minutes
Snoop Dogg launched a series of NFTs inspired by his personal style on Telegram on July 9, with a total of about 996,000 NFTs issued on the TON chain. Telegram founder Pavel Durov also announced on Twitter (X) that the batch of NFTs were sold out within 30 minutes of listing, with a total sales amount of US$12 million, and revealed:
“This batch of NFTs will not be officially minted until 21 days later, and the market may become crazy by then!”
This batch of NFT totems include retro cars, trendy bags, Dobermans with Snoop Dogg as the image, marijuana and other related items. Although these NFTs are animated pictures, they can be put on personal profile pictures and can also be converted into Telegram's built-in cryptocurrency "Stars".
Snoop Dogg releases single "Gifts" to promote collectibles
To match this wave of NFT sales, Snoop Dogg also released a new song "Gifts" and MV, which also displayed all NFT patterns.
Many netizens praised this collaboration on social media platforms and YouTube, and many people believed that this was a signal that the NFT market might be warming up, especially as trading volume has been declining in the past year. Such enthusiasm is eye-catching.
NFT head: It may be the beginning of a new narrative
Zenith, the head of NFT for TON chain, said at X that the original NFT on Telegram actually appeared as early as January this year. The first series was called "Plush Pepe" and Snoop Dogg was not the first. However, he also pointed out that the market reaction this time was quite strong and it might be the beginning of a new narrative for NFT.
Zenith added:
“The most unique utility of Telegram’s NFT is that it can be displayed on Telegram personal profiles. Will other brands or Web3 IPs also jump on this bandwagon? I don’t know, but I like to guess.”
The NFT market has fallen for five consecutive quarters, but the number of transactions has slightly rebounded
It is understood that the overall NFT market performance this year is still quite bleak, and it has been falling for five consecutive quarters. The NFT transaction volume in Q2 2025 was US$823 million, a decrease of nearly 80% compared to the US$4 billion in Q2 2024. However, the number of transactions has improved slightly, from the lowest number of 7 million transactions in Q1 this year, it has now rebounded to 12.5 million.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries a high degree of risk. Its price may fluctuate drastically and you may lose all your capital. Please assess the risk carefully.
