PENGU pops after Pudgy Penguins lights up Las Vegas Sphere
PENGU broke a quiet Christmas stretch in crypto markets after Pudgy Penguins bought ad time on the iconic Las Vegas Sphere, sparking a short-lived price recovery for the NFT project’s native token.
After sliding since Dec. 10 and down more than 18% for the month, PENGU reversed course when the Pudgy Penguins campaign appeared on the Sphere’s massive LED dome. The token climbed roughly 7.5% off its Dec. 24 low and — while it gave back some gains — remained about 6% higher on the 24‑hour chart at press time. By comparison, major tokens including Ethereum (ETH), BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) were largely trading sideways with only fractional moves between 0–2%.
Why it matters
The Las Vegas Sphere is one of the world’s most eye-catching advertising canvases: an immersive entertainment venue featuring the largest programmable LED screen on the planet and exposure to millions of visitors and social viewers. Getting featured there gives a brand mainstream visibility beyond crypto circles.
Pudgy Penguins’ campaign also marks the project as one of only two crypto-native brands to run ads on the Sphere; Crypto.com previously displayed the Bitcoin logo on the venue. Another meme-coin team, Dogwifhat, tried to mount a Sphere push earlier this year — raising roughly $700,000 through crowdfunding — but ultimately couldn’t secure a placement because of venue restrictions.
Campaign details and strategy
Pudgy Penguins launched in 2021 and built a community around 8,888 uniquely generated penguin NFTs. The collection has retained relevance despite cooling sentiment in the broader NFT market.
PENGU functions as the ecosystem’s utility and governance token and is used as a social currency to unlock digital experiences, in-game rewards and future governance decisions. The team said the Sphere campaign cost about $500,000 and would run for several days starting Dec. 24.
“It’s sort of showing that a crypto project can exceed and go out of crypto, touch the hearts and minds of everyday consumers,” Vedant Mangaldas, Pudgy Penguins’ chief of strategy and brand, told CoinDesk.
Track record of mainstream-driven moves
This isn’t the first time mainstream exposure has moved PENGU. In September the token jumped more than 10% after Pudgy Penguins disclosed it was mentioned in the Q2 earnings report and conference call of NYSE-listed Bullish — a reminder that traditional media or corporate mentions can still deliver sharp, short-term price reactions for crypto-native brands.
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