Reviewing the trend of crypto companies adopting Pudgy Penguin avatars: Coinbase and OpenSea lead the way.
On Saturday, led by the American exchange Coinbase and the former NFT market leader OpenSea, Pudgy Penguins' ecosystem saw significant activity, mainly focused on various crypto companies changing their profile pictures to express support through social media.
Image source: X
Subsequently, companies including Binance U.S, Kraken, Crypto.com, Phantom, MoonPay, Ledger, and Coingecko almost uniformly changed their profile pictures to Pudgy Penguins, joining in (some companies have since swapped back, possibly due to Tron founder Justin Sun also releasing his own Pudgy Penguin PFP).
This whirlwind quickly reflected in its NFT floor price and the price of PENGU, with the former rising from 8.8 ETH to the current 14.19 ETH in three days, while the latter rose from around 0.015 USD to 0.3 USD, increasing by 61.3% and 100%, respectively.
Image source: CoinGecko
Rooted in NFTs but not discussing NFTs: Why can Pudgy Penguins reach the public?
As the biggest ambassador for Pudgy Penguins, VanEck Web3 head Matt Bartlett posted explaining why Pudgy Penguins are different: "What people care about is culture, not historical significance."
Image source: X
He pointed out that CryptoPunks, as the ancestor of the NFT world, undoubtedly holds a noble historical status, establishing not only the significance of NFTs as PFPs but also being regarded as a classic of digital art. However, it has always been too distant from average users, making it difficult to approach and participate in, and for brands, it is hard to leverage—it is an artifact, not a character.
Additionally, Bored Apes (BAYC) once became popular with its wild wealthy style, blending global superstar marketing and club activities to create hype, briefly creating a cultural peak for Web3. However, this momentum did not last long, and as the NFT craze cooled down, BAYC's elevated image gradually became disconnected from the common society.
Bartlett stated: "Now let's take a look at Pudgy Penguins, they are cute, simple, and very suitable as GIF memes. They are safe and acceptable for children and the general public."
Pudgy Penguins does not deliberately emphasize Web3 elements but starts from the brand itself, striving to be likable; this culture is one that everyone can participate in.
Pudgy Penguins will not revive the NFT market; BAYC will.
NFT veteran @jbondwagon analyzed that the reason Pudgy Penguins could become popular in the Web2 world is that it did not start from the positioning of NFTs. Instead, it penetrated through community stickers, emojis, and GIFs, and users didn't even know this was an NFT project.
However, he also admitted that the success of Pudgy Penguins is a combination of brand strategy and cultural resonance, so it will not affect the overall revival of the NFT market. In contrast, BAYC, as a representative indicator of this market, is tied to the entire industry regardless of success or failure.
When NFTs soar, the media praises BAYC as a symbol of wealth; when NFTs plummet, society mocks BAYC for fun. If we want NFTs to make a comeback, we need to bring BAYC back and prove that NFTs can win.
Legendary artworks or GIF memes: Popular culture is not necessarily cheap.
Matt Bartlett emphasized that Pudgy Penguins have no historical baggage and do not seek a lofty status; they choose to be close to the public and integrate into daily life. This strategy has allowed them to escape the NFT bubble and even become a new image representative for companies like Coinbase and OpenSea.
Punks are classic artworks, BAYC is a story of wealthy trends, but Pudgy Penguins are more suitable for the general public culture. Now, Pudgy Penguins have also successfully found their positioning.
This article is republished with permission from: (Chain News)
Original title: (Pudgy Penguins become the beloved avatar of crypto companies, VanEck explains why it's not BAYC: The key is not discussing Web3)
Original author: Crumax
The article 'Pudgy Penguins NFT becomes the beloved avatar of crypto companies! VanEck explains: Why I don't hold Bored Apes' was first published in 'Crypto City'
