In the wide world of NFTs<\/a> and crypto, volatility isn\u2019t always just volatility \u2014 sometimes, rapid surges in the value of a digital asset may predict continued, sustainable growth. Following Pudgy <\/a>Penguins\u2019 August 2022 floor price surge of over 400 percent, the project has since seen its floor continue a steady increase. In a single week (from December 22 \u2013 28), Pudgy Penguin\u2019s floor price has risen over 65 percent, shooting up from 4.50 ETH to 6.92 ETH as of writing, according to data collected by CoinGecko<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not over yet \u2014 on December 27, four Pudgies sold<\/a> for 40, 33, 27, and 25 ETH as part of a broader 175 ETH floor sweep<\/a> that pushed the project into the 6 + ETH range. <\/p>\n What began as a price surge in August has evolved into what could be some serious and sustainable growth for the project. The rise comes at the tail end of a year that saw the Pudgy project itself sold off in a multi-million dollar<\/a> deal that turned it over to new leadership just as trust with its founding team had faded<\/a>. But what exactly happened to Pudgy Penguins that makes its recent redemption so powerful \u2014 and perhaps indicative of how bigger NFT projects need to be handled moving forward<\/a>?<\/p>\n During the NFT market\u2019s animal-themed PFP project<\/a> bull run in 2021, Pudgy Penguins quickly shook up the NFT ecosystem following the massive success of the Bored Ape Yacht Club<\/a>. The project is a collection of, you guessed it, pudgy penguin avatars.<\/p>\n First, you must decide where to buy them<\/a>, with OpenSea<\/a> and LooksRare<\/a> being your two best options. Then you need to set up an account with Coinbase or Gemini, fill your account with crypto, and voila \u2014 you\u2019re ready to purchase.<\/p>\n There are 8,888 \u2014 and the initial mint has long sold out. But thankfully, the secondary market on NFT marketplaces<\/a> like OpenSea is quite active. Community support was so strong following its launch that one collector even shelled out a cool 225 ETH<\/a> for their penguin in September of 2021, an amount worth nearly $1 million at the time.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, while the Pudgy Penguins project showed great promise in the months after its launch, its momentum quickly evaporated.<\/p>\n Perhaps the ultimate faux pas in the NFT space is the rug pull<\/a> \u2014 when a project\u2019s founders run off with funding that supporters contributed in good faith toward a project\u2019s development. Even the slightest suspicion from a project\u2019s community that its founders may do something of the sort can be enough to tank its value. That\u2019s exactly what happened within the Pudgy Penguins community in late 2021 when they discovered that the founding team had emptied the project\u2019s funds<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some members of the larger NFT community weren\u2019t surprised by this development, however, as ColeThereum<\/a> \u2014 who created Pudgy Penguins \u2014 had been previously caught engaging in scam-adjacent behavior<\/a> long before the launch of this PFP collection. Immediately after the project\u2019s community caught wind of the founders\u2019 recent \u2014 and past \u2014 behavior, several of its most prominent members took to social media to voice their concerns about the project\u2019s future. Namely, 9x9x9 \u2014 who reportedly owned over 200 Pudgy Penguin NFTs by January 2022, released a barrage of tweets<\/a> that openly criticized the founding team\u2019s treatment of its community and its apparent desire to abandon ship. <\/p>\n Following speculation that they would succeed the Pudgy Penguins founders in leading the project, 9x9x9 publicly disclosed that they had rejected an offer to buy the IP to the collection outright for 888 ETH. Thankfully, 9x9x9\u2019s desire to do right by the Pudgy Penguins community did not fall on deaf ears, as another community member took it upon themselves to right the ship.<\/p>\n In April of 2022, the Pudgy Penguins team closed a sale and handed off leadership of the project. The buyer? Luca Schnetzler, who picked up the collection for 750 ETH<\/a> (roughly $2.5 million), having been a longtime fan of the project and its community. \u201cPudgy Penguins was my first PFP NFT, and I knew when I first bought it that Pudgy Penguins had the highest upside when it came to brand potential,\u201d Schnetzler said while speaking to nft now. \u201cWhen I saw other people bidding on Pudgy Penguins, I knew I had to step in. I\u2019ve built multiple brands to nine figures in revenue over the last five years, and I felt like my skill set was the best to succeed at the job.\u201d<\/p>\n What followed was what some members of the NFT community are dubbing \u201cthe greatest comeback story<\/a>\u201d that\u2019s happened thus far in the space. In the four months since the acquisition, the project\u2019s new leadership established the Pudgy Penguins IP as a force to be reckoned with. Whether in media or merchandising, the new management team has been hard at work giving the community new avenues to show their support for the project \u2014 in addition to finding ways to onboard new users into the rapidly growing community via a strong social media presence<\/a>.<\/p>\n On top of this, Schnetzler has shown a deep understanding of the wider appeal of the Pudgy Penguins IP, dubbing it \u201ca feel-good brand.\u201d In service of this, Schnetzler has focused on rebranding efforts to unlock the IP\u2019s ability to \u201cuplift people and make their day a little easier.\u201d<\/p>\n As the project continues to dip in and out of OpenSea\u2019s top 10 volume chart list, fans of currently-troubled NFT projects may have new reasons to hope for a return to form for their supported projects. Hopefully, in the future, truly \u201cdead\u201d projects will become the exception and not the rule following a collapse. <\/p>\n \u201cI think with the right team and IP, [Pudgy Penguins\u2019 renewed success] can be replicated. I hope when it\u2019s all said and done, people will look at what we did with Pudgy and will open the floodgates for top-tier Web2 talent to take this space seriously,\u201d Schnetzler said. Let\u2019s hope he\u2019s right on the money.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWait, what exactly is <\/em>a Pudgy Penguin?<\/h2>\n
I want a Pudgy Penguin avatar, too! But how do I buy one?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nftnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pudgy-penguins-1200x336.jpg\")
Are there any left for me? How many Pudgy Penguins are there?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nftnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/pudgy-penguin-6873.png\")
Pudgy Penguins\u2019 fall from grace<\/h2>\n
Whispers of a Pudgy Penguin rug pull<\/h4>\n
New leadership leads to a comeback<\/h2>\n