Pudgy Penguins go Real World: NFT Plushies in Walmart Boost Digital Assets by 315%
After Pudgy Penguins toys landed in Walmart, NFT Sales Boomed.
- When Walmart started selling Pudgy Penguins soft toys, interest in the NFT collection surged.
- Compared to the previous week, daily trade volumes jumped by 315% after the Walmart toy launch.
- Pudgy Penguins CEO, Luca Netz, said it’s a big step for blockchain enviroment.
What do NFTs and soft toys have in common? As it turns out, lots of things, including a general disposition toward cuteness and collectibility.
Unsurprisingly then, brands known for their cuddly collectibles have often made the move into digital tokens. At the same time, many NFT brands have branched out into plushies.
As evidence that demand for NFTs and stuffed toys can feed into each other, the arrival of Pudgy Penguin plushies in Walmart has instigated a surge in interest in the associated NFT collection.
Trading Volume Spikes as Pudgy Penguins Arrive in Walmart
Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 NFTs and its launch dates back to 2021. However, since May this year, the brand has diversified into physical collectibles with a line of soft penguin toys.
Initially only available to order online, on September 26, Pudgy Penguins toys hit the shelves in 2,000 Walmart stores across the US.
That same day Pudgy Penguins’ trading volume surged over 1000% from just 178 ETH the previous day to 627 ETH. Since then, daily trading volumes have remained consistently above 250 ETH.
In fact, in the seven days from Pudgy Penguins plushies landing in Walmart, daily NFT trading volumes averaged 325.7 ETH, a 315% increase compared to the previous week.
In that time, the average price of Pudgy Penguins NFTs remained flat. Instead, the increase in trade volume was driven by a higher number of sales, which spiked sharply from 21.7 to 68 per day on average.
Attracting a New Generation of NFT Collectors
While Pudgy Penguins is far from the first NFT brand to launch a physical merchandise range, the recent surge in trade volumes suggests the Walmart deal has been a major boost for the NFT collection’s visibility.
Each toy comes with a QR code that can be scanned to claim a new NFT, adding a new dimension to the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem beyond the initial collection.
Commenting on the launch, Pudgy Penguins CEO, Luca Netz, said it represented “A huge step forward in bringing people into our industry and pushing the boundaries of what it means to build on the blockchain.”
In a post on X, Pudgy Penguins added that the line of soft toys “gives buyers their first NFTs and Web3 experience.”
