On the evening of December 17, the highly anticipated NFT project Pudgy Penguins officially launched its airdrop and announced its go-live. In a short period, the airdrop applications exceeded 100,000, and the surge in traffic caused the claiming API to fail temporarily; however, the airdrop activity has now resumed. According to Binance data, the opening price of the PENGU token reached as high as $0.07, and the fully diluted valuation (FDV) once hit $6.2 billion, although the price has since retreated.
According to the eligibility inquiry for airdrops, users can check multiple wallet addresses simultaneously. The eligible groups include Pudgy Penguin NFT holders, early players of Ethereum and Solana, L2 Abstract Enjoyers, and Explorers from various chains. The more eligibility criteria met, the more airdrop quantities received.
According to player reports, in addition to NFT holders reaping significant profits of tens of thousands to millions of dollars, some veteran players received substantial 'pork rice' through claiming from multiple addresses. However, some users found themselves empty-handed after checking multiple addresses. Besides the considerable gains from the airdrop, some experienced traders also earned significant profits through on-chain arbitrage.
According to Lookonchain data, one trader earned 36,984 SOL (approximately $836,000) by trading PENGU in less than 20 minutes. Meanwhile, some large whales are buying in large quantities; Lookonchain detected that one whale spent 15,300 SOL (about $3.46 million) to purchase 6.47 million PENGU tokens, with an average price of $0.053.
It is noteworthy that on-chain analyst Ai noticed that wallets associated with the PENGU project or early investors are conducting large-scale sell-offs, having sold PENGU tokens worth $8.74 million.
Through this airdrop frenzy, Pudgy Penguins not only successfully propelled the skyrocketing prices of its NFTs but also further expanded its community and ecological influence. However, the massive profits brought by the airdrop have also triggered a large amount of speculative behavior, leading some community members to express dissatisfaction.
Boosting NFT prices and expanding the community through airdrop activities.
Pudgy Penguins successfully attracted a lot of attention and significantly expanded its community size and ecological influence through a flexible airdrop mechanism and extensive token distribution strategy.
Unlike most projects that determine airdrop eligibility through snapshots, Pudgy Penguins' airdrop has no time limit; distribution of the PENGU token began immediately upon launch, and holders have 88 days to apply. This flexible mechanism has led to massive purchases of Pudgy Penguins series NFTs, driving a strong increase in NFT prices.
According to data from NFT Price Floor, since the announcement of the token issuance plan on December 6, Pudgy Penguins' floor price has risen by 133.6%, while the increase for Lil Pudgys has reached 165.7%. Meanwhile, the sales volume of the Pudgy Penguin series has also surged significantly. According to statistics from CryptoSlam, during this period, Pudgy Penguins' sales exceeded $54 million, while Lil Pudgys' sales reached $22.6 million.
Pudgy Penguins aims to quickly expand their community through airdrops. According to the token economic model of PENGU, in addition to 25.9% of tokens allocated to the Pudgy community, 24.12% will be allocated to other communities. Pudgy Penguins revealed that approximately 25% of the PENGU token airdrop will be allocated to the Solana ecosystem. This means that even users who do not hold NFTs, such as active users of applications like Phantom wallet and Jupiter, can receive airdrops; there are about 7 million of these wallet addresses, covering users and community members across multiple protocols.
In addition, Pudgy Penguins also plans to expand its ecological scale through a multi-chain strategy. Besides deploying on Solana, they will also launch tokens on Ethereum and the upcoming L2 network Abstract Chain. Pudgy Penguins' parent company Igloo stated that this is to create the largest on-chain community and expand its ecological audience through multi-chain deployment.
The airdrop has triggered a surge in the speculation of physical toys, with the theft of QR codes causing dissatisfaction.
However, although the airdrop has stimulated community activity and ecological development, it has also triggered some speculation issues. As the IP derivative toy Pudgy Toys launched by Pudgy Penguins was included in the airdrop, these toys quickly became a 'hot commodity' for speculators. Many have started frantically purchasing these toys in hopes of earning airdrop rewards.
Some netizens shared, 'I just hired some kids to help me raid Walmart, waiting for my airdrop.' Others said, 'Getting a free 10x airdrop from the Pudgy Penguin toys at Walmart that no one is buying; I spent $1,000 on the experiment and might buy more. In the end, even if the airdrop fails, I can donate these toys to kids, which is a win-win.' Some speculators even revealed, 'I bought 10,000 penguin toys on Amazon for $20 each. If I can get a $100 airdrop for each toy, I can make $1 million, and there’s hardly any cost.'
Pudgy Toys are being snatched up frantically.
Recently, many speculators on social media showcased their haul of Pudgy Penguin toys, aggressively stockpiling Pudgy Toys to earn profits. Compared to the financial risks of purchasing high-priced NFTs or the funds from the airdrop, buying physical toys can yield good returns at almost 'zero cost.'
Driven by profit motives, some speculators even sought to profit by hyping the QR codes inside Pudgy Penguin toys (which grant access to Pudgy World), going as far as resorting to theft. This behavior, deviating from the original cultural and emotional values of Pudgy Penguins, has sparked considerable controversy and criticism.
Some users commented, 'The PENGU coin is about to be released; toys across North America are almost sold out. Is anyone buying these QR codes?' Others pointed out that among the penguin toys bought at Walmart, some boxes had no QR codes at all, or even the toys were missing.
Pudgy Toys QR codes have been damaged.
According to a post from Mask founder Suji, some Web2.5 users attempting to buy Pudgy Penguin toys in stores in New York today discovered that many packaging boxes had been opened and accompanying QR codes had been stolen. Suji stated that these toys were originally intended for those who truly love Pudgy Penguins, and although many might have accidentally lost the QR codes, they could still find joy in them. However, with the launch of the airdrop, a large influx of speculators flooded into stores, engaging in this irresponsible behavior. He pointed out that this behavior is essentially theft and called for the entire crypto community to condemn such practices. He emphasized, 'Please leave Pudgy Penguin toys for those who truly love them.'
Overall, while Pudgy Penguins' airdrop activities have significantly enhanced the project's market heat and ecological expansion, how to maintain the project's cultural spirit and community values while promoting economic incentives has become an important topic for Pudgy Penguins and other crypto projects in their long-term development.