In a deal worth $750,000, entrepreneur Luca Netz from LA has acquired the 8,888 digital penguins collection. The Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token (NFT) project is now led by a new team after the conclusion of a long-anticipated $2.5 million crowdsale that closed last month. According to those involved with the transaction, a team led by Pudgy Penguins holder and Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Luca Netz will purchase control of the project as well as royalties from the project’s original four co-founders.
With “The Huddle” as his new mission, Netz will lead the pack of other stakeholders. He’ll be joined by collaborator Cameron Moulène and a slew of others. The group of buyers will be able to create a token and conduct airdrops to other holders of the NFT series and any other rights, once they have control of the project. The agreement was reached as the Pudgy Penguins community ousted its founding group in a contentious Discord poll in January. Since then, fans of the adorable flightless digital birds have been waiting for news on the project’s uncertain future.
On OpenSea, the price of Pudgy Penguin has grown significantly, thanks to the circulation of deal-closing rumors. The price of a Pudgy Penguin has risen to as much as 2.5 ether (ETH) in the wake of recent trading fluctuations between 0.7 and 1.4 ETH over the previous weeks. The cheapest penguin on offer was advertised at 2.2 ETH as of press time. Late Saturday, Netz said that the sale would be announced on social media later that day and that it was “completely not an April Fool’s joke.” That’s why he decided to wait until after April 1 to go public.
New leadership
The Pudgy Penguins, which was released in July, has become one of the most popular NFT portfolios with over 49,000 ether in trade volume (about $171 million in today’s ether prices) on OpenSea’s NFT marketplace.
The site was mentioned in a New York Times op-ed last summer discussing the NFT trend, and it now bears the signatures of such celebrities as Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry and rapper Tory Lanez.
“Penguins were my first NFT purchase,” said Netz. “It’s an intriguing emotion to experience when looking at an NFT project,” Netz added. “The most powerful collections are those that elicit strong emotions.”
