Source | Coindesk, Decrypt

By Danny Nelson, Adam Morgan McCarthy

Compiled by |PANews

Who is the cutest animal in winter? I believe many people will think of penguins. Perhaps because of the same name, the performance of the "Fat Penguin" NFT series in the crypto winter of 2022 is eye-catching, and it shines during the Christmas season.

After the floor price rose to a historical high of 6 ETH on December 27, the floor price of the NFT project "Fat Penguin" Pudgy Penguins broke through 7 ETH on December 28, reaching 7.1 ETH, setting a new historical high in terms of currency. The increase in the past 24 hours reached 30.28%, and its transaction volume was close to 2,200 ETH, an increase of 159.20%. In addition, the current total transaction volume of this series of NFTs has reached US$216.43 million, and the market value has reached US$91.32 million. This rise also ended the year-long decline of Pudgy Penguins. The NFT series has been at a low point in price since 2022, but rebounded after a change in ownership and a renewed focus on the brand.

The once active community meme culture suffered a blow

Pudgy Penguins, with a total of 8,888 issued, was launched in June 2021 and quickly became one of the most popular PFP NFT series in the crypto community, with a popularity comparable to CryptoPunks and BAYC despite its lower market value. Compared to other projects in the NFT market, which is full of eccentric art, the cute and healthy penguin cartoon images of "Fat Penguin" are more popular with ordinary investors.

Unlike most NFT projects that only have investment attributes, the "Fat Penguin" Pudgy Penguins project is more like a social participation opportunity. The number of holders of this series is close to 7,000, and its Discord channel is extremely active (even if you don’t have the penguin NFT, you can participate), and even attracted Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian to join.

However, the co-founder of this promising project seemed to be dazzled by success. Half a year after the project was launched, no team was formed, and even caused dissatisfaction among multiple project stakeholders (including NFT hedge funds StarryNightCapital, eGirlCapital, etc.), and initiated a proposal to migrate the community to a new project called WrappedPenguins. In January 2022, due to the squandering of project funds, the "Fat Penguin" Pudgy Penguins community dismissed the project founder. Four months later, serial entrepreneur Luca Schnetzler (Netz) bought all the copyrights of Pudgy Penguins for 750 ETH (about 2.5 million US dollars), and this NFT project finally saw the dawn of "resurrection".

New Boss helps "Fat Penguin" survive the winter

After Luca Schnetzler (Netz) took over Pudgy Penguins, he promised the community to "build a brand" and establish connections with everyday consumers. He also carried out a series of drastic reforms, such as launching the "Pengu" licensing transaction, the collectibles market, and various social media activities, determined to make the project a true blue-chip NFT series.

At the end of April, Pudgy Penguins announced that it would launch a new theme metaverse project and a themed map, and then launched a new logo on social media, aiming to "make a fresh start". In August, Pudgy Penguins included Nansen and Meta executives in the project advisory board, including Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik, Saks Fifth COO Avenue RJ Cilley, Hasbro licensing head Jess Richardson, Meta partner team Jordan Sterling, and Luca Schnetzler (Netz) also announced the launch of physical goods to expand the brand's influence, such as Pudgy Toys plush toys and children's books. In September, Pudgy Penguins reached a cooperation with international children's toy brand PMI Toys to launch a new physical toy series Pudgy Plushies. In early December, Pudgy Penguins reached a cooperation with Sotheby's to launch the "Snowed In: A Rare Pudgy Penguins Sale". 10 NFTs were "sold out in seconds" and brought in nearly US$129,000 in revenue. The average selling price of each NFT reached US$12,900, far higher than the floor price of about US$1,300 at the time.

Overall, the above-mentioned measures have achieved good results. According to Luca Schnetzler (Netz), during this year's Christmas holidays, sales of Pudgy Penguins brand products (including T-shirts, hats and hoodies) increased significantly, so more toys and collectibles will be launched in 2023.

Punk9059, research director of NFT club Proof Collective, analyzed that the reason why Pudgy Penguins has performed well in this crypto winter is that the project has attracted a considerable number of influential people to join, and secondly, the project leader has adopted a different strategy, "to actually make money and sell actual products, rather than just relying on NFT royalties, and then the project leader relaxes and has fun all day long."

Earlier, there was news that Pudgy Penguins was negotiating with investors to raise $10 million in seed funding through a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE). If the financing is completed, its valuation will reach $50 million, and it may issue tokens and launch a new "Rogs" concept in April 2024. However, Luca Schnetzler (Netz) denied raising funds, but said that part of the project profits would be returned to NFT holders. He emphasized that he would lead the company in a transparent manner and "build it into one of the largest NFT brands in the world."

Interestingly, as the floor price of Pudgy Penguins has risen to a record high, the market performance of its sister project Lil Pudgys has also risen. The floor price has risen to 0.59 ETH, up 22.92% in the past 24 hours, setting a new record in terms of currency. In addition, the current market value of the NFT series has risen to US$15.51 million, and the total transaction volume has reached US$12.95 million.

Summarize

Pudgy Penguins may be the only NFT project that has performed well in the entire crypto winter and whose floor price continues to rise. But whether this trend is a flash in the pan during the "Christmas craze" or whether it can continue to develop sustainably is worth paying attention to. In any case, the success of Pudgy Penguins is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the NFT market in the deep bear market. After all, under the leadership of the new boss, the project is finally doing things instead of lying flat.