Pudgy Penguins is trending on Twitter: from an NFT project to a multi-dimensional Web3 ecological IP.

1. The Fat Penguin Sparks Twitter Avatar Trend

Recently, Pudgy Penguins have sparked a wave of avatar trends in the crypto circle, with industry institutions including Coinbase, Binance.US, OpenSea, VanEck, OKX, and BitMart gradually changing their Twitter official avatars to Pudgy Penguins derivative images. Among them, the endorsement from traditional financial giant VanEck is particularly crucial. This asset management company, which has a 70-year history, not only changed its Twitter avatar to a Pudgy Penguin as early as 2024 but also rang the Nasdaq bell with physical dolls on June 23 of this year, bringing Web3 IP into the mainstream financial arena. The recent hype has also significantly boosted the price performance of assets related to Pudgy Penguins. As of July 17, the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem token $PENGU has surged over 216% in the past month, with a market cap once exceeding $2.8 billion. The trading volume of Pudgy Penguins NFTs has increased to $13.726 million, reflecting a 111% growth compared to last month.

2. The Ecological Panorama of the Fat Penguin

Since the NFT bear market began in 2022, Pudgy Penguins have not been overwhelmed by market sentiment. Instead, relying on their unique and adorable penguin image, they have actively engaged in IP licensing and commercial implementation, telling a narrative about brand building and cultural operation to the outside world. Today, Pudgy Penguins have grown into the core brand of a diverse ecosystem. Within its ecosystem, it includes not only the Ethereum Layer 2 network Abstract built on ZK architecture but also integrates diverse scenarios such as gaming applications, MEME, NFT lottery platforms, and offline toys and consumer goods.

According to official data as of July, Pudgy Penguins toy sales exceeded $10 million, the number of users in the gaming sector reached 60,000, and Abstract has approximately 2.5 million cumulative active users. This series of data indicates that Pudgy Penguins is transforming into a true Web3 super IP with user scale effects, product commercialization capabilities, and on-chain infrastructure capabilities.

1. Physical Ecosystem

In terms of physical products, the Pudgy Toys series by Pudgy Penguins is undoubtedly the most successful commercial landing case. Since its initial release in May 2023, Pudgy Toys quickly topped the Amazon bestsellers list, with sales exceeding 10 million dollars, and subsequently successfully entered over 10,000 Walmart stores across the United States. The rich variety of designs, including plush toys, dolls, and ice houses, combined with the licensing revenue binding mechanism between Pudgy NFTs and real-world products, allows Pudgy holders to also earn passive income from sales, providing a reference for commercialization pathways in the entire NFT industry.

2. Game Section

The gaming sector is also a key focus for Pudgy Penguins. In May of this year, the 1V1 turn-based battle game Pengu Clash launched in the TON ecosystem, attracting over 60,000 players in its first week. Additionally, the multiplayer survival mini-game Pudgy Party, which is set to launch in the summer of 2025, has already garnered significant user interest, with its official Twitter followers nearing 100,000. By continuously releasing lightweight game content that aligns with users' social habits and entertainment needs, Pudgy Penguins is steadily expanding the reach of its IP and effectively attracting more users into its ecosystem.

3.Abstract Ecology

Abstract

Abstract is a Layer 2 on Ethereum utilizing ZK-rollup technology launched by Igloo Inc., the parent company behind Pudgy Penguins, in collaboration with Cube Labs. It adopts a wallet solution that does not require mnemonic phrases and a user-centered design philosophy, aiming to lower the user threshold and expand the popularity of consumer-level application scenarios. As of July 18, the TVL of the Abstract network is 42.6 M (a year-on-year growth of 533% since the beginning of the year), and the number of active users on the network remains in the range of 50 K-200 K. This network supports a diverse ecosystem that includes games related to Pudgy Penguins, NFT applications, and more. Some of the more popular projects in the ecosystem include:

• Abster: Abster is the official mascot MEME of Abstract. As of July 17, Abster's market capitalization has risen to 37.6 M, making it the highest market cap MEME coin in the Fat Penguin ecosystem.
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• Polly: Polly is the official token of the lottery project PollyPrize. Users can participate in the platform's lottery activities by purchasing Polly tokens, with a ticket priced at 1 USD or 50 Polly points. The prizes include currently popular NFTs, such as Goblintown and Moonbirds.

3. Future Development Potential

In the short term, there are three key trends worth noting in the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem. First, the crypto asset management firm Canary Capital officially submitted an application to the SEC in March this year to launch a spot ETF product based on $PENGU. If this ETF is ultimately approved, it will become the world's first ETF product with the underlying asset being the native asset of an NFT project, which is not only a milestone but will also bring unprecedented institutional recognition to $PENGU. Achieving asset anchoring and compliant circulation within the traditional financial system will significantly enhance the liquidity, valuation basis, and investability of Pudgy Penguins.

In addition, the infrastructure Abstract is also accelerating its improvement. Luca Netz, the CEO of Pudgy Penguins, publicly stated during a live broadcast that Abstract is expected to launch its TGE by the end of this year. As the core infrastructure that supports the diverse business operations of Pudgy Penguins, including games, NFT interactions, and social applications, the token mechanism of Abstract, once implemented, will provide stronger incentives and collaborative expectations for ecosystem participants, further increasing the popularity of native projects such as PENGU, Abster, and PollyPrize.

Finally, the multiplayer survival adventure mini-game Pudgy Party is expected to launch this summer and has already gained a lot of attention in the community. As the official launch of the game approaches, MEME characters within the ecosystem, such as Abster, are expected to achieve content interaction and gameplay integration in the game, further strengthening brand loyalty and increasing ecosystem popularity.

The current Pudgy Penguins has far surpassed the scope of traditional NFT projects, evolving into a complex Web3 brand encompassing IP, physical products, games, and infrastructure. Starting from its initial avatar IP, it has expanded to offline consumer goods, light social games, ZK Layer 2 infrastructure, and then to MEME tokens and lottery platforms, gradually building a complex ecological closed loop that spans virtual and real worlds, across multiple chains and scenarios. This is also the main reason why Pudgy Penguins has maintained market activity despite the ongoing sluggishness in the NFT market.

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