Author: Nancy, PANews
A group of adorable penguins is quietly changing the cultural narrative of the crypto world. Over the just-passed weekend, multiple well-known crypto projects simultaneously changed their X profile pictures to fat penguins. This seemingly interesting social interaction is a collective recognition of Pudgy Penguins' long-term spirit and brand-building strategy. These fat penguins are also driving the crypto grassroots experiment to accelerate towards mainstream culture.
How did Pudgy Penguins once again dominate the crypto circle with their "reborn" small images?
Recently, Pudgy Penguins has sparked an avatar trend in mainstream crypto circles, with heavyweight industry players like Coinbase, OpenSea, VanEck, MoonPay, OKX, and Jupiter successively changing their official X platform avatars to Pudgy Penguins' reimagined images.
In fact, this is not the first time Pudgy Penguins has experienced a collective "avatar change". As early as December 2024, after Pudgy Penguins completed a large-scale community airdrop, OpenSea, Solana co-founder Toly, Binance.US, and others were the first to change their avatars to fat penguins.
Subsequently, on April 26, 2025, World Penguin Day, Pudgy Penguins officially released a commemorative poster, with many well-known institutions responding synchronously, including VanEck, Uniswap Labs, Phantom, Moonshot, Gemini, and Helius, successively releasing penguin-related avatars.
Behind the crypto projects changing their avatars is not solely due to the influence of Pudgy Penguins' founders, nor simply because of the cute visual style of the fat penguins, but rather support and recognition of the constructive narrative, long-term culture, and the rise of crypto elite entrepreneurship, with many crypto founders being Pudgy Penguins Non-Fungible Token holders.
It's worth knowing that during the hottest phase of the Non-Fungible Token market, changing avatars to blue-chip Non-Fungible Tokens became a social ritual for crypto players to showcase identity, demonstrate taste, and define circles. BAYC is the most typical example, which is not just an asset but also a demonstrative social capital, with its popularity more stemming from speculative capital's pursuit of scarce assets. However, as the Non-Fungible Token market sentiment cooled and speculative capital retreated, the once-ubiquitous blue-chip avatars were quietly removed, and Non-Fungible Tokens were even labeled with a negative tag of investment failure.
Compared to most "money buys entry" small images ultimately declining, Pudgy Penguins' successful commercial transformation is key to its clear strategic planning, strong operational capabilities, and narrative construction. Since the Non-Fungible Token market went bearish in 2022, Pudgy Penguins was not consumed by market sentiment. Instead, leveraging its unique cute penguin image, it actively carried out IP licensing and commercial implementation, telling an vivid story about brand building, cultural operations, and long-termism.
Behind all this is the core operator Luca Netz, who possesses foresight and rich resources, and whose brand management and operational approach more closely align with traditional market aesthetics, significantly differing from many Non-Fungible Token project founders' insider thinking.
From Pudgy Penguins collaborating with Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Walgreens to launch or sell physical toy series, outperforming traditional strong IPs like Disney and Transformers, to partnering with top Hollywood agency WME and children's book publisher Random House Kids to continuously expand derivative content, to developing products like Pudgy Party and Pengu Clash, Pudgy Penguins has built a long-cycle brand construction through high-recognition aesthetic language, combining offline toys, e-commerce, social content, IP licensing, and actively penetrating mainstream culture.
Moreover, they have created viral spread through mainstream platforms like TikTok and Instagram, appeared at Sotheby's auctions, exhibited in New York's Times Square, and held real-world events, significantly enhancing brand exposure and public awareness. This multidimensional marketing and communication strategy has helped Pudgy Penguins continuously expand global influence, with its active audience rapidly growing to millions. According to Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz, by July 2025, the global audience of fat penguins had reached 87.4 million, with an expected year-end target of nearly or exceeding 100 million, showing significant growth potential.
It is precisely this Web2-style elite corporate operating style of Pudgy Penguins that breaks the stereotypical impression of speculation in Non-Fungible Tokens and the entire crypto market, demonstrating the real value and extensibility of Web3 brands to the traditional world, making more traditional institutions willing to "pay" for fat penguins. Of course, for investors, Pudgy Penguins' narrative path not only brings investment threshold in price but also tests trend perception, business model insight, and ecosystem development judgment.
More than just ringing the bell, using VanEck and ETF to open the mainstream financial door
Pudgy Penguins' brand imagination does not stop at IP narrative construction. Imagine a penguin that was originally only active in crypto communities, with a cute image, suddenly appearing on the traditional financial market stage - this scenario has truly happened with Pudgy Penguins. The driving force behind this cross-border breakthrough is the veteran investment management company VanEck.
As early as June 2024, VanEck surprisingly changed its social media avatar to Pudgy Penguins, publicly stating that "the boss thinks it's too cute, can't help but change the PFP." This was not just a lighthearted cultural interaction but also signaled traditional financial giants actively embracing native crypto IPs.
Subsequently, VanEck not only used the fat penguin image in its 2024 ETH ETF promotional video but also recently partnered with Pudgy Penguins to ring the opening bell at NASDAQ when launching the DAPP ETF product. This is the first time a Web3 native IP has appeared on the global capital market stage, bringing unprecedented brand exposure to Pudgy Penguins and symbolizing its formal recognition by the financial world.
VanEck's support for Pudgy Penguins seems to be a brand leveraging publicity strategy. In the NASDAQ bell-ringing ceremony publicity, VanEck used a relatively neutral and objective tone on platforms like its official website, LinkedIn, and TikTok, targeting traditional investors and mainstream media to introduce the event and emphasize its crypto layout. However, on X platform, which is active in the crypto community, VanEck did not explicitly highlight the specific content of this bell-ringing or other ecosystem projects. The Pudgy Penguins' own publicity team, on the other hand, extensively published related news on X platform, attracting widespread discussion in the crypto community.
Regarding the Pudgy Penguins avatar trend, VanEck Web3 Director Matt Bartlett further explained that people care about culture, not history. CryptoPunks undoubtedly have historical status, but they inherently possess an "aloof" quality, making it difficult to collaborate with brands or achieve co-promotional content. While BAYC once occupied the cultural high ground, it has always maintained a certain sense of distance, more like a collectible to be flaunted rather than a cultural symbol truly representing user identity. Pudgy Penguins are different; they are cute, friendly, and have MEME potential, naturally suitable for spreading. They are friendly enough for brands, children, and a broader mainstream audience while maintaining the native spirit of Web3. They do not exist to be "cool" but strive to be "lovable". This culture can be shared, imitated, and participated in. It spreads through memes, toys, language, and stories, inspiring public participation. As a result, more and more companies are willing to create content around Pudgy, recognize its value, and actively join this cultural narrative. Matt Bartlett believes that historical value alone is insufficient to maintain current influence. What truly drives the continuous evolution of brands and communities is the infectious power and resonance of culture. Pudgy Penguins are now defining a new cultural atmosphere.
More groundbreaking is the path Pudgy Penguins is opening towards financial products. According to public information, Cboe BZX Exchange has submitted a 19b-4 application to the US SEC for the Canary PENGU ETF, initiating a public comment period of approximately 21 days. This ETF product will directly hold Pudgy Penguins ecosystem assets (including PENGU tokens/Non-Fungible Tokens). If successfully reviewed, PENGU will become the first US ETF product directly holding MEME or Non-Fungible Tokens, gradually becoming a core allocation target in mainstream investment portfolios.
Currently, the market sentiment of Pudgy Penguins has been driven up, and its ecosystem has correspondingly risen. The Pudgy Penguins Non-Fungible Token floor price has reached 14.19 ETH, creating a new high in nearly half a year; the PENGU token price has touched $0.03, with a 30-day increase of 192.7%, not far from its historical high.
Overall, from small avatar images to cultural consumer brands and financial asset targets, the Pudgy Penguins' comeback story not only builds itself into a commercially, socially, and even financially viable visual asset but also launches a stage victory for crypto elite culture.
