Pudgy Penguins NFT Collection Sold to New Leadership for $2.5M

The Pudgy Penguins NFT is project is all set to get a fresh start after it was sold to a new group for 750 ETH (around $2.5 million). Pudgy Penguins holder and Los Angeles-based entrepreneur, Luca Netz will helm the new leadership. Reportedly, a group led by Netz will buy the whole project as well as its royalties from its four co-founders.

“The blizzard has passed, and the snow is settling,” Pudgy Penguins wrote on its official Twitter page earlier today. “The Huddle has shown its resilience. It’s time to waddle to the promised land. We’re ready to announce the worst kept secret in Web3. Our next chapter has begun: new team, new roadmap, new heights.”

Pudgy Penguins’ original founders cancelled early this year

Pudgy Penguins’ latest development comes just a few months after its community cancelled its original founders. In January, a Twitter thread exposed the founders’ attempt at selling the project after allegedly pocketing all the funds from the NFT sales. Needless to say, many Pudgy Penguin holders were upset when the news broke. But, for several others, the news wasn’t all that surprising. In fact, a month before, the founders had come under fire for their “unprofessional” behaviour. 

Actually, the original team had initially made several tall promises for the project’s future. This included its own token, a children’s book, a metaverse game featuring the penguins, and more. However, they failed to deliver on any of these plans. Ultimately, the project, which was once one of the most popular NFT collections, was met with a drop in sales. 

All about the new leadership

Immediately after the community ousted Pudgy Penguins’ original founders, Mintable founder Zach Burks had offered to buy the project for 750 ETH. Eventually, Netz and his team closed the deal to buy the project last week. 

“This deal’s taken way longer than I thought,” Netz told CoinDesk. “Everything is aligned to make this one of the most prevalent projects of all time.”

Furthermore, amid the rumours of the deal, the project’s sales picked up on OpenSea. On Friday, April 1, 29 Pudgy Penguins were bought for 68.28 ETH, among others. Moreover, the same day, its floor price went up to 2.5 ETH. This comes weeks after the floor was fluctuating between 0.7 and 1.4 ETH. At the time of writing, the floor was at 2.4 ETH. 

After the news of the new deal, speculations are also rife about the Pudgy Penguins token drop. Community members have been long awaiting the launch of the $PENGU token. Back in December, the project had announced that $PENGU will launch in 2022. “Pudgy Presents are revealing and will play a vital role in the story of Pudgy Penguins!” the project had said then. 

However, the new team is yet to make any announcements. That said, Netz added that his plan is to turn Pudgy Penguins into “a brand that’s known both in and outside of the NFT world.”