Ethereum NFT Breakdowns · 03
Pudgy Penguins.
The Founders Were Voted Out.
Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty eight penguins, a community that removed its own founders in three days, a sale for 750 ETH at the bottom, and a toy business afterwards.
Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 Ethereum NFTs minted in August 2021. Its community voted the original founders out in January 2022, and the project was sold to Luca Netz in April 2022 for 750 ETH, about $2.5 million. The PENGU token that came later is a Solana token, a different asset on a different chain.
Minted
August 2021, on Ethereum.
Sold For
April 2022, about $2.5 million.
Founders Removed
A community vote over three days.
Floor At The Bottom
About $1,860, the night before the vote.
The Rise
A mint, a hundred and forty million dollars of secondary volume, and then trouble.
July And August 2021, Eight Thousand Eight Hundred And Eighty Eight
The project was established in July 2021 and the collection of 8,888 NFTs minted in August. Wikipedia describes the founders only as a cohort of university students. No source I could reach names the person who drew the artwork, which is worth saying on the page rather than filling in. Source: Wikipedia.
By January 2022, $140 Million Had Traded
CoinDesk put secondary sales on OpenSea at more than 45,400 ETH, about $140 million, since the July 2021 launch. The collection was working commercially at the same time as it was falling apart internally. Source: CoinDesk, 7 January 2022.
The Brand Outlasted The Team
What survived the founders was the character: a round blue and white penguin that reads at any size and can be drawn into scenes. That is what the buyer in April 2022 was actually buying, and it is what the retail business afterwards was built on.
The Turn, And What It Cost
Three days in January, and a sale at the bottom.
5 To 7 January 2022, The Community Voted The Founders Out
A Discord vote removed the founders, known as Cole Thereum and @tubbyfat. The accusations are attributed here to the person who made them. The Twitter user @9x9x9eth said the team had promised a game, a token and an educational book in September and that “after a half year, they still have not yet set up the team, they are still in the stage of hiring”, and that the founders were looking to abandon the project and had tried to sell the project shell for 888 ETH, about $2.8 million. Source: CoinDesk, 7 January 2022.
The Floor Told The Same Story Twice
It was about 0.6 ETH, roughly $1,860, on the Wednesday evening before the ouster, and 1.7 ETH, roughly $5,270, by the time CoinDesk published. The market marked the founders leaving as good news, which is not a thing that happens often. Source: CoinDesk, 7 January 2022.
April 2022, Sold For 750 ETH
Luca Schnetzler, who goes by Luca Netz, bought the project for 750 ETH, about $2.5 million. It is now held by LSLTTT Holdings, Inc. He bought it. He did not draw it. The artwork predates him by roughly nine months, which is worth being precise about because the credit is routinely given to him. Source: Wikipedia.
The Token Is Not The Collection
PENGU launched later as a Solana SPL token while this collection remains an Ethereum ERC-721. Two chains, two assets, one brand. The token has its own page on this site with its own timeline, and confusing the two is the most common mistake made about this project.
The Art
Five pieces of Pudgy Penguins artwork, the same set used on the PENGU token page because it is the same brand. Nobody is credited here: I could not source who drew it, and crediting the wrong person is worse than crediting nobody.
Eight Thousand Eight Hundred And Eighty Eight
A crowd of near identical penguins in front of igloos. A collection is a supply number on a contract, and this is what that number looks like when somebody draws it instead of writing it.
Above The Clouds
Two penguins mid air over a cloud bank. The gap between this and the flat profile picture art is the whole product: a character that can be drawn into scenes is a character that can be licensed, and licensing is what paid for the recovery.
The Cliff
One penguin on an ice ledge at sunset. No ticker, no chart, no text. The silhouette alone identifies the collection, which is the test a brand passes or fails.
The World Is Pudgy
An airship over a snow town carrying the line THE WORLD IS PUDGY. That slogan is doing the job the September 2021 roadmap failed to do, and it is doing it better.
The Chain Split, Drawn
A penguin wearing Solana. This collection is on Ethereum and the PENGU token is on Solana, and this single piece of art is the clearest statement of that split anywhere on either page.
What It Teaches
Three things worth taking off this one.
A Community Can Fire A Founder, And Sometimes Should
Three days from complaint to removal, and the floor went up on the news. Most projects treat the team as permanent because there is no mechanism to change it. This one had a mechanism, used it, and was worth more afterwards.
The Character Is The Asset, Not The Roadmap
Everything promised in September 2021 went undelivered and the project still recovered, because what people had bought was a drawing that works on a shelf, on a phone and on a toy. A roadmap is a liability until it ships. A character is an asset from day one.
Check Who Made It Before You Credit Who Owns It
Luca Netz is credited with this art constantly and he bought it nine months after it existed. I could not find a source naming the illustrator, so this page names nobody rather than naming the wrong person. Not knowing, said out loud, beats a confident wrong answer.
Collection facts sourced from Wikipedia, CoinDesk and the Infinite Node Foundation, with every figure carrying its date and its publication in the row it appears in. Where a claim is an allegation it is attributed to the person or outlet that made it rather than stated as fact. Where a fact could not be sourced, and the Pudgy Penguins illustrator is the case here, the page says so instead of filling the gap. Prices and floors are dated snapshots, not live figures. Nothing on this page is a price forecast.
The Other Breakdowns
Same shape every time: what happened, what it cost, and what it teaches.
Common Questions
A collection of 8,888 Ethereum NFTs minted in August 2021, now owned by LSLTTT Holdings, Inc. after an April 2022 sale. Source: Wikipedia.
Wikipedia describes the founders as a cohort of university students, and CoinDesk names two of them by their pseudonyms, Cole Thereum and @tubbyfat. No source I could reach names the illustrator who drew the artwork. Luca Netz bought the project in April 2022 and did not create it.
A community vote over 5 to 7 January 2022 removed them. The Twitter user @9x9x9eth alleged undelivered promises, no team in place after half a year, and an attempt to sell the project shell for 888 ETH. Source: CoinDesk, 7 January 2022.
No. PENGU is a Solana SPL token. The Pudgy Penguins collection is an Ethereum ERC-721. Same brand, different chains, different assets, and each has its own page here.
No. It is a breakdown of a collection. NFTs have no cash flows, the floor can fall a long way, and Cody Wise is not a licensed advisor.
The Rise Is The Easy Half.
The Turn Is The Lesson.
Every breakdown on this site publishes what went wrong at the same weight as what went right, with a date on each of them.
Not financial advice.