Pudgy Penguins NFTs infighting turns nasty as cryptocurrency mania ebbs
The infighting is getting ugly among the Pudgy Penguins virtual community as one of the most successful non-fungible token projects gets swept up in the collapse in cryptocurrency prices. Community dissatisfaction with the speed at which the founding team was developing the project come to a head in recent days with owners of the virtual collectibles seeking their ouster. That’s a far cry from July, when the cherubic-like cartoon creatures became an overnight sensation and were snapped up by buyers worldwide.
Pudgy’s Discord channel, which has more than 19,000 members, is overflowing with expletive-laden rants and messages ranging from “I don’t want the drama” to #savethepenguins. Twitter is rife with gossip and rallying cries.
Overall daily NFT sales peaked in late August, at $411.5 million, according to data tracker NonFungible. Daily sales have since slumped to around $57 million with the crypto market losing about 40% of its market value since reaching a record high in early November.
What started the Pudgy owners’ rebelling was an egg. The team behind the Penguins sent NFT holders free eggs, containing a surprise and expected to hatch on Christmas. Everyone held their breath, but what they got was a fishing rod, misspelled as “rog,” said Juan Angelus, who owns two Pudgy Penguins and is an active member of the community.
“No one likes the rogs,” Angelus said. What he calls “the rog situation” came soon after another disappointment: The team behind Pudgy Penguins issued new NFTs, called Lil Pudgys. The team running the project didn’t return requests for comment, but had said on Twitter it would provide updates shortly.
Adding salt to the wound, a rival project, Bored Ape Yacht Club, has become an online sensation. While
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