Author: Nancy, PANews
On the evening of December 17, the highly anticipated leading NFT project Pudgy Penguins announced its launch and the start of airdrops, which have received over 100,000 claims. The short-term high traffic also caused the claim API to malfunction, and after a brief pause, the airdrop has now resumed. Binance data shows that the PENGU token opened at a peak price of $0.07, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) reaching up to $6.2 billion, though the current price has since retreated.
From the airdrop eligibility query, users can add multiple wallet addresses for inquiry at once, including holders of Pudgy Penguin series NFTs, Ethereum/Solana OG players, L2 Abstract Enjoyers, and various chain Explorers, all of whom can receive the PENGU token airdrop; the more conditions they meet, the more airdrop quantity they will receive.
From the snapshots shared by players, in addition to NFT holders reaping significant profits with returns ranging from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, some experienced players have also created a 'pig's foot rice' worth a considerable sum from multiple addresses, while some users ended up with 'nothing' after checking dozens of addresses. Beyond the high returns from airdrops, experienced traders have also made substantial profits through on-chain arbitrage. According to Lookonchain, a trader made a profit of 36,984 SOL (approximately $8.36 million) by trading PENGU in less than 20 minutes. Additionally, some whales are making significant purchases; Lookonchain has monitored a whale spending 15,300 SOL ($3.46 million) to purchase 6.47 million PENGU tokens at an average price of $0.053.
Notably, according to on-chain analyst Ai Yi, wallets associated with the PENGU project team (or early investors) are currently dumping large amounts on-chain, having sold PENGU worth $8.74 million.
During this airdrop frenzy, Pudgy Penguins not only successfully boosted the price of its NFTs but also further expanded its community and ecological influence. However, the profit-driven behaviors triggered by the airdrops have also caused dissatisfaction within the community.
Using airdrop activities to boost NFT prices and expand the community
With a flexible airdrop mechanism and a broad token distribution strategy, Pudgy Penguins has attracted significant attention in recent times and has actively expanded its community size and ecological influence.
On one hand, unlike most projects that determine airdrop eligibility through snapshots, Pudgy Penguins' airdrop has no time limit; the PENGU token will be allocated to relevant NFTs once it goes live, and holders have 88 days to apply. This flexible airdrop mechanism has led to a massive shopping spree for Pudgy Penguins series NFTs, injecting strong upward momentum into their prices.
NFT Price Floor data shows that from the announcement of the token issuance plan on December 6 until its official launch, the floor price of Pudgy Penguins increased by as much as 133.6%, while Lil Pudgys saw a rise of 165.7%. Meanwhile, sales of the Pudgy Penguin series also surged significantly, with CryptoSlam statistics indicating that during this period, Pudgy Penguins generated over $54 million in sales, while Lil Pudgys reached $22.6 million.
On the other hand, Pudgy Penguins hopes to expand its community through airdrops. The economic model of the PENGU token indicates that, in addition to 25.9% of the total token supply allocated to the Pudgy community, another 24.12% will go to other communities. According to Pudgy Penguins, the Solana ecosystem will receive about 25% of the PENGU token supply airdrop, allowing active users of applications like Phantom wallet and Jupiter to receive airdrops even without holding NFTs. There are about 7 million wallet addresses in this category, covering users and community members across multiple protocols.
In addition, to expand its ecological scale, Pudgy Penguins' tokens also adopt a multi-chain deployment strategy. In addition to being deployed on Solana, they will also launch on Ethereum and the anticipated L2 network, Abstract Chain. Pudgy Penguins' parent company, Igloo, stated that this move aims to create the largest on-chain community and expand the audience for the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem through multi-chain deployment.
Airdrops have triggered a speculative frenzy for physical toys, and the theft of QR codes has caused dissatisfaction
Although the Pudgy Penguins airdrop activity has incentivized community members and promoted ecological development, it has also led to a chaotic speculative environment. With the launch of Pudgy Toys, the IP derivative toys of Pudgy Penguins, being included in the airdrop targets, this toy has quickly attracted significant attention from speculators, becoming a target for their rush to buy.
'I just hired a group of kids to help me shop at Walmart; I can't wait for my airdrop.', 'Free 10x airdrop from Pudgy Penguin toys at Walmart that no one wants. I spent $1,000 on this experiment and might buy more. I will donate these toys to children at Christmas. Regardless of the outcome, it's a win-win situation.', 'I ordered 10,000 penguin toys from Amazon at $20 each. If each toy airdrops $100, I can return these toys at no cost and make a profit of $1 million.'
Pudgy Toys are being snapped up
On social media, speculators are sharing their 'harvest' of shopping for Pudgy Penguin toys, trying to profit by hoarding Pudgy Toys in bulk. Compared to the risks of financial losses from purchasing high-premium NFTs for airdrops, buying physical toys can yield considerable profits at no cost.
Driven by profit, many speculators have resorted to hyping the QR codes inside Pudgy Penguin toys (which grant access to Pudgy World) and even resorting to theft to profit, an act that detaches from the original cultural and emotional values of Pudgy Penguins, sparking controversy and criticism.
'$PENGU is about to be issued, and toys across North America are almost sold out. Is anyone willing to buy these QRs?' Some users are selling the QR codes for Pudgy Penguin toys at high prices. Others have reported ordering penguin toys from Walmart, but some boxes are missing QR codes or lack toys altogether.
Pudgy Toys QR codes have been damaged
According to a post by Mask founder Suji, 'Today in a New York store, a Web2.5 user wanted to buy some Pudgy Penguin toys but found that several boxes had been opened, and the accompanying QR codes were stolen. These toys were originally intended for those who truly love Pudgy Penguins; even if many accidentally lost their QR codes, they still enjoy the fun. However, with the launch of airdrops, Degens flocked to the stores and engaged in this irresponsible behavior. This behavior is theft, and the entire crypto community should condemn it. Please leave Pudgy Penguin toys for those who truly love them.'
Overall, Pudgy Penguins' airdrop activities have brought significant ecological expansion and market enthusiasm to the project. However, how to maintain a balance between promoting economic incentives while preserving cultural spirit and community values has become an important topic that Pudgy Penguins and other crypto projects need to deeply consider and prioritize for long-term development.
