Cultural Revolution in the Encryption World: Fat Penguin Leads a New Trend

Recently, a unique avatar trend has emerged in the encryption community. Several well-known projects have changed their social media avatars to the image of a cute fat penguin. This is not only an interesting interaction but also represents a collective recognition of the long-term spirit and brand strategy of Pudgy Penguins. This fat penguin is driving grassroots experiments in the encryption field towards mainstream culture.

The Fat Penguin has once again attracted attention, the secret of the small image "Rebirth"

Recently, Pudgy Penguins has sparked a wave of avatar frenzy in the mainstream encryption circle. Several heavyweight industry institutions have successively unified their official avatars to the secondary creation images of Pudgy Penguins. This is not the first time a collective "head swap" trend has occurred. As early as the end of December 2024, after completing a large-scale community airdrop, several well-known platforms were the first to switch to the Pudgy Penguin avatar.

On World Penguin Day on April 26, 2025, Pudgy Penguins released a commemorative poster, and many well-known institutions responded by releasing avatars related to the fat penguins.

The wave of changing profile pictures is not solely driven by the influence of the founders or the cute visual style, but rather by recognition of their constructive narrative and long-termist culture, as well as support for the rise of encryption elite entrepreneurship. Many founders in the encryption field are holders of the Fat Penguin NFT.

Unlike the once-popular but subsequently sluggish blue-chip NFTs, Pudgy Penguins has successfully achieved a commercial transformation. Its core lies in clear strategic planning, strong operational capabilities, and narrative-building power. Since the downturn of the NFT market in 2022, Pudgy Penguins has actively engaged in IP licensing and commercial implementation, telling a vivid story about brand building, cultural operation, and long-termism.

The brand management and operational approach of core operator Luca Netz aligns more closely with traditional market aesthetics, which differs from the insider thinking of many NFT project founders. Pudgy Penguins has established a long-term brand building cycle through collaborations with major retailers to launch physical toys, partnerships with top Hollywood talent agencies and well-known publishers to expand derivative content, and the development of gaming products, actively penetrating mainstream culture.

They also create viral spread through mainstream social media platforms, participate in high-end art auctions, and exhibit in Times Square, New York, significantly increasing brand exposure and public awareness. As of July 2025, the global audience of Fat Penguin has reached 87.4 million, and it is expected to approach or exceed the target of 100 million by the end of the year.

The elite corporate operation style of Pudgy Penguins, similar to Web2, breaks the stereotype of speculation dominating the NFT and even the entire encryption market, showcasing the true value and extensibility of Web3 brands to the traditional world, attracting the attention of more and more traditional institutions.

Open the mainstream doors with the help of financial giants

The brand imagination of Pudgy Penguins is not limited to IP storytelling. This adorable penguin image, originally active in the encryption community, has surprisingly appeared on the stage of traditional financial markets. The driving force behind this cross-border breakthrough is the established investment management company VanEck.

In June 2024, VanEck changed its social media profile picture to Pudgy Penguins, signaling that traditional financial giants are actively embracing native encryption IP. Subsequently, VanEck used the image of the chubby penguins in its Ethereum ETF promotional video and teamed up with Pudgy Penguins to ring the opening bell on Nasdaq when launching its DAPP ETF product. This marks the first time a Web3 native IP has landed on the global capital market stage, bringing unprecedented brand exposure to Pudgy Penguins and symbolizing its official recognition in the financial sector.

Matt Bartlett, the Web3 director at VanEck, explained that people are more focused on culture rather than history. Compared to other well-known NFT projects, Pudgy Penguins are friendlier and have more MEME potential, making them naturally suitable for dissemination. They are friendly enough for brands, children, and a broader mainstream audience, while still maintaining the native spirit core of Web3. This culture can be shared, imitated, and participated in, and can stimulate public engagement in various forms.

More groundbreaking is that the pathway for Pudgy Penguins to advance into financial products is now being opened. Currently, an exchange has submitted application documents for the Canary PENGU ETF to the U.S. SEC, which will directly hold Pudgy Penguins ecosystem assets. If it passes the review smoothly, PENGU will become the first U.S. ETF product to directly hold MEME or NFT, gradually becoming a core allocation target in mainstream investment portfolios.

Currently, the market sentiment for Pudgy Penguins has been driven up, and its ecosystem has followed suit. The floor price of Pudgy Penguins NFTs has reached a new high in nearly six months, and the price of the token PENGU has also surged, not far from its all-time high.

Overall, from the small avatar images to cultural consumption brands and financial asset targets, the comeback story of Pudgy Penguins not only establishes itself as a visual asset that can be commercialized, socialized, and even financialized, but also marks a phased victory for the culture of encryption elites.