In a latest development, The Pudgy Penguins NFT project released its native token, PENGU, on the Solana blockchain and allowed NFT holders to claim tokens via an airdrop. Holders of Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, Rogs, and soulbound tokens (SBTs) were eligible to participate in the airdrop, which went live at 8:00 a.m. ET.
The PENGU token was announced by Pudgy Penguins on December 5. The token aims to give millions of Pudgy Penguins fans and a wider audience a way to connect more directly with the brand.
88 Days Claim Period
According to recent reports, more than 88 billion PENGU tokens are now circulating on the Solana blockchain. The allocation is structured to benefit multiple holder categories. The CEO of the project, Luca Netz noted that in order to claim the tokens, the users would have to link both their Ethereum and Solana wallets. The users also needed to have SOL tokens of at least $10 value in their wallets for the gas fees. The claim period will be 88 days, and any unused tokens will be burnt after that period elapses.
As per the token’s developers, approximately 25.9% of the total supply is reserved for the Pudgy Penguins community, while 24.12% will go to other communities and new “Huddle” members. Another 17.8% is designated for team members under a one-year cliff and three-year vesting period, with 11.48% retained by the company under similar conditions.
Notably, the Holders of Pudgy Toys, physical plushies inspired by the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection available at Walmart and Target, are also eligible for PENGU tokens. The toys are linked to the Pudgy World metaverse and built on Igloo’s Ethereum Layer 2 Abstract Chain, which is currently in testnet. Once the mainnet is live, a PENGU bridge via LayerZero will allow toy buyers to claim their tokens.
Token Price Surges 800%!
Strikingly, PENGU achieving a trading volume of approximately $90 million in its first hour and within 24 hours, the token’s price surged by 870%, reaching an all time high of $0.05. Also, the token’s market capitalization reached $3 billion which placed PENGU among the 200 best cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Trader Makes $8.36 Million Profit in 20 minutes
One of the most significant transactions involved a trader who made a $8.36 million profit within 20 minutes through the token’s price surge as he bought 239.6 million PENGU using 23,742 SOL and then sold the tokens for 60,726 SOL.
The team said on Discord that in addition to the Pudgy Penguins community, approximately 7 million wallets are eligible to claim PENGU tokens, including users who have interacted with various protocols and members of different communities.
Binance, OKX, Bybit Include PENGU
Several centralized exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and Bybit have included PENGU. Binance also revealed that it would enable PENGU on various products such as Binance Futures allowing for up to 75x leverage on PENGU/USDT Perpetual Contracts. OKX also added the token to its spot trading market.
The release of PENGU has positively influenced the Pudgy Penguins NFT market. The floor price for the Pudgy Penguins collection increased to 34.1 ETH (approximately $136,000), marking a 2.6% rise, placing the collection as the second most expensive in the NFT market, following CryptoPunks.
