Pudgy Penguins’ PENGU Crashes Following Airdrop

The excitement surrounding the PENGU token’s airdrop quickly turned into disappointment for many investors as the token’s price plummeted by over 60%. 

Initially valued at around $0.068, the token nosedived to $0.027, dragging its market cap down to below $2 billion in a few hours.

PENGU Price Drops

The recently launched PENGU token, tied to the Pudgy Penguins NFT project, has experienced a dramatic downturn, losing 63% of its value just hours after its much-anticipated airdrop launch on December 17.

The Solana-based token debuted with a price of $0.068 has since plunged to a low of $0.027 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data.

PENGU price drop following airdrop. Source: CoinGecko

PENGU’s price, after a sharp initial drop of more than 60% following the airdrop, has since rebounded to around $0.33, with a market cap of over $2.08 billion, making PENGU the 74th biggest crypto by market cap.

Airdrop Distribution Hit by Technical Issues

The much anticipated Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) airdrop went live on Wednesday, as nearly half of its 88.88 billion  supply were distributed to the airdrop claimants, including Pudgy Penguins NFT holders.

However, PENGU’s price dropped shortly after its launch as early investors sold more than 20% of the total token supply, resulting in a trading volume of $425 million.

Despite the sell-off, many users reported issues, such as missing portions of their token airdrop allocations and difficulties going through the process. 

The Pudgy Penguins team members confirmed they were dealing with the DDoS issues during the process and that users have until March 15, 2025, to claim their PENGU tokens, after which any unclaimed tokens will be permanently locked.

Pudgy Penguins NFTs Suffer Losses

The PENGU token’s price crash also hit the Pudgy Penguins NFT market, with the floor price dropping from 36 ETH to around 18 ETH. 

Many NFT holders, who bought to qualify for the airdrop, began selling off their assets, further pressuring both the token and the wider Pudgy Penguins ecosystem.

In the days leading up to the airdrop, Pudgy Penguins NFTs saw a surge in prices, briefly surpassing $100,000 and coming close to overtaking CryptoPunks NFT collection.

Why This Matters

The sharp decline in PENGU’s price following the airdrop underscores the volatility often seen in new token launches.

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