Why is the NFT market reawakening: Pudgy Penguins floor rises to a new record

The NFT market is reawakening and projects are trying to reinvent and rebuild their appeal. The Pudgy Penguins NFT collection broke out, reaching a new floor price record.

Pudgy Penguins set the stage for a renewed NFT season. The collection reached a new all-time high for its floor price, surpassing even the peak NFT season in 2021. 

Other collections appreciated as well, with CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club rising to a six-month high. For the top three collections, the price rally followed a handful of high-value deals, where just under 50 top NFT sales were enough to stir up the market. In the case of Pudgy Penguins, the floor price rose after only five valuable Penguins changed hands in the past day.

NFTs have been trying to regain traction in late 2024, aiming to recapture the hype from the meme token market. The NFTs space is waiting for the relaunch of a new OpenSea version, while MagicEden is preparing for its ME token airdrop. Other top collections also rallied to an all-time high, including the Miladies. This collection’s community has remained active in the crypto space, quickly adopting any and all new trends and spilling over into meme tokens.

Pudgy Penguins prepares for token launch in December

For years, Pudgy Penguins was mostly known for its original collection of 8,888 NFTs. The project also launched side collections and real-world items with on-chain certification. 

The recent price rally preceded the announcement of a Pudgy Penguins token, expected to arrive by the end of the year. The token will trade under the ticker $PENGU, arriving after three years of adoption for the Penguins collection. 

Introducing $PENGU, the official coin of Pudgy Penguins.

Launching in 2024. Learn more below. pic.twitter.com/J715bODcM6

— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) December 6, 2024

Luca Netz, the CEO of Pudgy Penguins, announced a virtual meeting on December 7, with more potential information for the token launch.

The token will try to reach multiple communities, in addition to current users. Pudgy Penguins is still connecting real-world shopping behaviors with crypto culture, and PENGU will also be used to that end. The token launch arrives shortly after Pudgy Penguins received a funding round from Animoca Brands.

The PENGU token will launch on Solana, gaining access to some of the most active meme communities and wallet users. The token will run with a total supply of 88,888,888,888. The team will receive 17.8% of that supply, with a one-year cliff unlock and three years of vesting. 

More than 25% will be reserved for the community, with 24% reserved for other communities and incentives. The remaining PENGU will go toward the company reserves and for liquidity purposes. A small allocation will go to any remaining FTT token holders. Alameda Research and the FTX market operators were among Pudgy Penguin holders, though they have since moved on, leaving the project to the community.

The token announcement has activated scam attempts around the token allocation. For now, there has been no token generation event (TGE), and the official Pudgy Penguins is yet to announce the mechanism of airdropping the tokens. The token launch is inviting scammers with fake links and Telegram bots, which may lead to NFT or asset losses. 

Can NFT make a comeback?

Top collections retain high floor prices, but the mass rush to NFT is not there yet. The two events that may revive the sector are the MagicEden airdrop and the relaunch of OpenSea.

MagicEden ME airdrops are often touted as having a value of a few hundred dollars. However, some users are reporting zero allocation, despite holding valuable NFTs and having a trading history. 

OpenSea announced it expects a relaunch in December, while also sparking expectations for an airdrop. Recently, the market operator sent out a message to its community, asking how long users relied on its platform for NFT swaps.

It may be precisely the airdrop hopes that are boosting some collection holders. A retroactive snapshot from 2021 or 2022 activity levels would make many early NFT adopters return to the market. NFT-based tokens may become a new asset class, though arriving rather late in the game, as most altcoins already had their strongest rallies for the year.

Land a High-Paying Web3 Job in 90 Days: The Ultimate Roadmap