The Cultural Revolution of the Encryption World: The Rise of the Fat Penguin

Recently, the crypto community has seen a wave of profile picture changes. Several well-known crypto projects have changed their social media avatars to adorable chubby penguin images. This is not just a simple collaboration, but a collective recognition of the long-term spirit and brand-building strategy of Pudgy Penguins. This chubby penguin is driving the grassroots experiment in crypto towards mainstream culture.

The Resurgence of the Fat Penguin

Recently, Pudgy Penguins has sparked a wave of avatar trends in the mainstream encryption community. Several heavyweight industry institutions have successively changed their official avatars to the creative images of Pudgy Penguins. This is not the first time Pudgy Penguins has triggered a collective "avatar change" trend. As early as the end of 2024, after completing a large-scale airdrop aimed at the community, several well-known platforms were the first to change their avatars.

On April 26, 2025, World Penguin Day, Pudgy Penguins officially released a commemorative poster, and many well-known organizations responded by releasing avatars related to the fat penguins.

This wave of changing profile pictures is not simply due to the cute appearance of the fat penguin, but rather a support and recognition of the constructive narrative and long-termism culture behind it. Many founders in the encryption field are holders of fat penguin NFTs.

Unlike other NFT projects that once soared to popularity but ultimately fell into decline, the key to Pudgy Penguins' successful business transformation lies in its clear strategic planning, strong operational capabilities, and narrative-building skills. Since the decline of the NFT market in 2022, Pudgy Penguins has not been swallowed by market sentiment; instead, it has actively engaged in IP licensing and commercial implementation based on its unique and adorable penguin image, telling a vivid story about brand building, cultural operation, and long-termism to the outside world.

Diversification Development Strategy

Pudgy Penguins has adopted a diversified development strategy:

1. Collaborated with several retail giants to launch a series of physical toys, with sales surpassing some traditional strong IPs.
2. Collaborate with top brokerage firms and publishers to continuously expand derivative content.
3. Develop products such as Pudgy Party and Pengu Clash to expand brand influence.
4. Create viral distribution through mainstream social platforms to enhance brand exposure.
5. Log in to Sotheby's auction, exhibit in Times Square, New York, etc., to expand global influence.

According to Pudgy Penguins CEO, the global audience of Pudgy Penguins is expected to reach 87.4 million by July 2025, with a target of approaching or exceeding 100 million by the end of the year.

The Web2-style elite business operation of Pudgy Penguins has broken the stereotype of speculation dominating the NFT and even the entire encryption market, demonstrating the true value and extensibility of Web3 brands to the traditional world.

Entering the Mainstream Financial Market

The brand imagination of Pudgy Penguins is not limited to IP storytelling. The support from a well-established investment management company has opened the door for Pudgy Penguins to mainstream financial markets.

In June 2024, a well-known investment management company changed its social media avatar to Pudgy Penguins, indicating that traditional financial giants are actively embracing native encryption IP. Subsequently, the company not only used the Pudgy Penguins image in its Ethereum ETF promotional video but also collaborated with Pudgy Penguins to ring the opening bell on Nasdaq when launching its DAPP ETF product. This marks the first time a Web3 native IP has landed on the global capital market stage, bringing unprecedented brand exposure to Pudgy Penguins and symbolizing its official recognition in the financial sector.

More groundbreaking is that Pudgy Penguins is opening the path to advanced financial products. Currently, exchanges have submitted application documents for the Canary PENGU ETF to the U.S. SEC. If it passes the review smoothly, PENGU will become the first U.S. ETF product to directly hold MEME or NFT, gradually becoming a core allocation target in mainstream investment portfolios.

Market Reaction

With the market sentiment of Pudgy Penguins being driven up, its ecosystem has also seen a rise. The floor price of Pudgy Penguins NFTs has reached 14.19 ETH, setting a new high in nearly six months; the price of the token PENGU has hit $0.03, with a 192.7% increase over the past 30 days, not far from its all-time high.

From the small avatar images to cultural consumption brands, and then to financial asset targets, the comeback story of Pudgy Penguins has not only transformed itself into a visual asset that can be commercialized, socialized, and even financialized, but it has also opened a phase victory belonging to the encryption elite culture.