Fat Penguin: Reshaping the Cultural Narrative of the Encryption World

Recently, a group of cute penguin images has quietly been changing the cultural landscape of the encryption world. Over the past weekend, several well-known encryption projects coincidentally changed their social media avatars to images of chubby penguins. This seems like a fun social interaction, but it actually reflects the industry's collective recognition of the long-termism spirit and brand strategy of Pudgy Penguins. This chubby penguin is driving the grassroots experiment of encryption towards mainstream culture.

The Fat Penguin Sparks a Trend Again, the Secret of the "Rebirth" of the Small Image

Pudgy Penguins has recently sparked a wave of profile picture trends in the mainstream encryption community. Several heavyweight organizations in the industry have successively unified their official profile pictures to the Pudgy Penguins derivative images. This is not the first time Pudgy Penguins has triggered a "head swap" trend. As early as the end of December 2024, after completing a large-scale airdrop aimed at the community, several well-known platforms were the first to change their profile pictures to the fat penguins.

On April 26, 2025, World Penguin Day, Pudgy Penguins officially released a commemorative poster, and several well-known organizations simultaneously responded by releasing avatars related to the Pudgy Penguins.

The change of profile pictures by various encryption projects is not influenced by a single factor, but is a reflection of support and recognition for their constructive narratives, long-term cultural values, and the rise of encryption elite entrepreneurship. Many founders in the encryption field are themselves holders of Fat Penguin NFTs.

Unlike the past when blue-chip avatars dominated the screen and eventually fell silent, the key to the successful business transformation of Pudgy Penguins lies in clear strategic planning, strong operational capabilities, and narrative-building power. Since the NFT market downturn in 2022, Pudgy Penguins has not been hindered by market sentiment; instead, it has actively pursued IP licensing and commercial implementation, leveraging its unique and cute penguin image to tell a vivid story about brand building, cultural operation, and long-termism.

Behind all this is the effort of core operators with foresight and abundant resources. Their brand management and operational approach align more with the aesthetics of traditional markets, which largely distinguishes them from the insular thinking of many NFT project founders.

Pudgy Penguins has launched a physical toy series in collaboration with several well-known retailers, surpassing some traditional strong IPs in sales. At the same time, they have partnered with top agencies and publishers to continuously expand derivative content. By developing gaming products, Pudgy Penguins utilizes a highly recognizable aesthetic language, combining offline toys, e-commerce, social content, IP licensing, and other methods to build long-term brand value and actively penetrate mainstream culture.

They also create viral spread through mainstream social platforms, participate in high-end art auctions, and exhibit in Times Square in New York, significantly enhancing brand exposure and public awareness. This multidimensional marketing and communication strategy helps Pudgy Penguins continuously expand their global influence, with an active audience size rapidly growing to millions. As of July 2025, it is reported that the global audience of Pudgy Penguins has reached 87.4 million, and it is expected to approach or exceed the target of 100 million by the end of the year, showing immense growth potential.

The operation style of Pudgy Penguins, which is close to that of traditional enterprises, 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, and gaining recognition from an increasing number of traditional institutions. For investors, the development path of Pudgy Penguins not only brings a price investment threshold but also tests the perception of trends, insight into business models, and judgment on ecological development.

Leverage traditional financial power to open the doors to mainstream markets

The brand imagination of Pudgy Penguins is not limited to IP narrative creation. Surprisingly, this penguin IP, which originally only thrived in the encryption community with its cute image, has appeared on the stage of the traditional financial market. Behind this cross-border breakthrough is a well-established investment management company.

As early as June 2024, a well-known investment firm unexpectedly changed its social media avatar to Pudgy Penguins and publicly stated that this decision stemmed from the preferences of its upper management. This is not only a light-hearted cultural interaction but also signals that traditional financial giants are actively embracing native encryption IP.

Afterwards, the investment company not only used the image of a chubby penguin in the promotional video for its Ethereum ETF launched in 2024, but also partnered with Pudgy Penguins to ring the opening bell on Nasdaq when launching its DAPP ETF product recently. 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 formal recognition in the financial sector.

The reason why this investment company strongly supports Pudgy Penguins seems to be a strategy of leveraging publicity. At the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony promotion, the company introduced the event in a relatively neutral and objective tone on platforms aimed at traditional investors and mainstream media, emphasizing its encryption layout. However, on social platforms active in the encryption community, the company did not explicitly highlight the specific content of the bell-ringing and other ecological projects. Meanwhile, Pudgy Penguins' own publicity team made a big splash in announcing the news on relevant platforms, attracting extensive discussion within the encryption community.

For the recent trend of fat penguins changing avatars, a Web3 executive from an investment company explained that people are more focused on culture rather than history. While some early NFT projects have undeniable historical significance, they struggle to co-create content or collaborate with brands. Pudgy Penguins, on the other hand, are cute, friendly, and have MEME potential, making them naturally suitable for sharing. They are friendly enough for brands, children, and a broader mainstream audience, while still maintaining the native spirit of Web3. This culture can be shared, imitated, and participated in. It spreads through memes, toys, language, and stories, encouraging public engagement. As a result, more and more companies are willing to create content around Pudgy, identify with its values, and actively join this cultural narrative.

More groundbreaking is the path to advancing Pudgy Penguins towards financial products. It is reported that a certain exchange has submitted application documents for the Canary PENGU ETF to the US SEC and has opened a public comment period. This ETF product will directly hold Pudgy Penguins ecosystem assets. If it passes the review smoothly in the future, PENGU will become the first US 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 also risen in response. The floor price for Pudgy Penguins NFTs has reached 14.19 ETH, setting a new high for the past six months; the price of the PENGU token has touched $0.03, with a 192.7% increase over the past 30 days, not far from its all-time high.

From profile pictures to cultural consumption brands, and then to financial asset targets, the success story of Pudgy Penguins not only establishes itself as a visual asset that can be commercialized, socialized, and even financialized, but also marks a significant victory for the culture of encryption elites.