Pudgy Penguins CEO says praise he gets ‘is actually pretty sad’: NFT Creator
Pudgy Penguins minted in July 2021, but quickly saw high drama after its former founder came under suspicion he was going to rug the project.
A few months later Luca Schnetzler stepped in. With an entrepreneurial streak since his early teens he had a history of building internet businesses and bought the project and its intellectual property of 8,888 cute little Pudgys for $2.5 million in April 2022.
“It was an instinct and intuitive decision. I saw this thing that I was hugely invested in before I bought it that I thought had all of the potential. I was complaining and crying on a daily basis to the founders about how they sucked, and how they could do better. Rather than just doing that, I just stepped up to the plate,” Schnetlzer says.
The narrative of quickly shifted from a rug that could trend to zero to one of hope and optimism when Schnetzler set out a vision for the project the community could rally behind.
Schnetzler became one of the standout PFP project leaders during the NFT bear market, and the Penguins bucked the trend of cratering floor prices. Since he took over as CEO, the Pudgy Penguins floor has risen from around the 1 ETH mark to 6.32 ETH. Holders and the wider NFT community believe that Schnetzler has a game plan for success and the ability to execute it.
He says the decision to snap the project up wasn’t as risky as it may have seemed.
“We bought something that netted almost $10 million in six months for $2.5 million. Royalties were making it half a million dollars per month. It was a pretty good business on its face. Intuitively, I think it just comes down to the vision when you close your eyes and you picture Pudgy Penguins, it’s pretty easy to see where this thing can go.”
Constant momentum and growth has been key to Pudgy’s ascent into one of the top PFP projects, with the cute penguin brand spreading across social media outside of traditional crypto channels like X and Discord. Pudgy’s Instagram has just crossed 1 million followers, while its GIF strategy has been highly effective, only days ago crossing the 10 billion views chasm.
Schnetzler thinks it’s a little bit sad that he gets such praise, when it just highlights how little effort other PFP projects put into trying to grow their brands.
“Everyone’s been saying that their NFT project is a brand, they have hundreds of millions of dollars that they raised from the community and venture capital at ridiculous valuations. Yet none of them are actually doing the basics of building a brand,” he says.
“Some people really sing my praises, and it’s actually pretty sad because I do think we do some things really well, don’t get me wrong, but I mean, this should have been the bar all along. The fact that we are doing so many things that so many projects are not doing when they have 10-20 times the resources and 2-3 times the experience is pretty shameful.”
Finding the entrepreneurial spirit
Despite only being 25 years old, Schnetzler actually started his entrepreneurial journey over a decade ago. Growing up poor and bouncing around couch to couch at friends’ places, Schnetzler says he needed to start earning at a young age.
“I’ve really been out of school working for 10 years and it’s pretty crazy to say, but that’s what it’s been,” he says, noting most people don’t even start working until they finish college in their 20s
“Then you do 10 years after you leave college and you’re 33, and then people start to see success in their 30s. That seems to be the time horizon. I think my childhood forced me to start early. I didn’t have the luxury of chilling out or having a childhood where I could just go home and play video games and not worry about anything. I was forced to go work and figure things out.”
Character building versus brand building
To date, most PFP projects are built around a centralized character with a variety of different traits to give each NFT a slightly different look and feel. Take the OG collection CryptoPunks, the Bored Apes, and it is also true for the Pudgys. But it’s not the case for Gary Vee’s VeeFriends, which boasts 270 individual characters.
Schnetzler believes character building around one individual character is the easier of the two options.
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“At the end of the day, I think Gary is trying to tackle a tougher challenge. It’s part of the cards I was dealt and have, and he created his cards. I think he’s doing a great job with VeeFriends. I think ultimately he has to create familiarity. Creating familiarity around a character is a lot easier than creating familiarity around a brand,” says Schnetzler.
“They’re two different things and because his universe isn’t predicated on one character, but a multitude of different characters and different animals in different shapes. He is betting and taking a shot at the brand, and the brand name versus the character.”
“I’m going after the character first and then worrying about the brand because I believe there’s enough people that love penguins and few enough penguin brands out there.”
A brave new world – Walmart pallet program
In September this year, Pudgys announced a groundbreaking deal with retail giant Walmart that saw Pudgy Penguin physical toys available for sale and in prominent locations in over 2,000 stores throughout the U.S.
“The pallet program is one of the most prestigious places you can get because it gives prime real estate to people walking the floor. It signals Walmart’s belief in the brand and their belief in NFTs and Web3 being a vertical for their retail locations,” says Schnetzler.
“If that can become a general norm in the world’s biggest retailer it gives us a real shot to succeed. It’s one thing to be in the crevices of the toy shelf, it’s another thing to be front and center for everyone to see. That program doesn’t happen for brand-new brands. It’s normally a program for Barbie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or people that have movies and TV shows off the backs of their releases.”
Building a legacy brand with no playbook
One of the most common questions consistently thrown at a PFP project is “how do you drive value back to holders?”
In response to criticism about its toy product extension, Schnetzler laid out his plan on how Pudgy Penguins are thinking about value accrual to holders using a classic funnel diagram.
“The funnel is not something that I’ve really invented. I mean, you can throw Star Wars and any other big legacy IP onto that funnel, and that’s the strategy. The idea, though, with NFTs is the value of the first edition collectible is a huge anchor to the business. If you put any first edition collectible at any legacy brand on the bottom of that funnel, it still makes the most sense,” he says.
“I want to build a legacy brand, the likes of a Hello Kitty, a Star Wars and a Pokemon.
That’s easier said than done, he admits, saying there’s no roadmap to follow for a PFP project.
“Hello Kitty took 60 years to build. My holders don’t have 60 years for me to go build something. If I lose momentum and traction within the holder base, then I ultimately lose everything because I don’t believe you can build a successful Web2 business while your Web3 business fails.”
Rapid-fire Q&A
Your entrepreneurial inspiration
“I love everything that I think Steve Jobs represents. For me personally, I’ve tried to be my own man, but the one person that I found huge inspiration from, you can kind of tell it in my leadership style, is really Steve Jobs.”
The intense pressure of a founder
“It’s not easy, but it’s also not the worst thing. One of the reasons why we got here is because of the community. I think I’m in a great situation because I bought the project and I didn’t take any money from them. The nature of people who hold Pudgy Penguin PFPs, they’re good people.”
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“You can’t really be an angry, miserable person and then go click buy on a Pudgy Penguin. The art kind of creates a culture that already filters a lot of that nonsense out. Now, I empathize with a lot of other people who I see go through the chaos.”
What you would tell a Mom about Pudgys
“What I would tell a Mom is, ‘hey, this is a great value proposition for your son or daughter. This is way more fun than any other $10 toy.’”
“Why? Because they unlock a bunch of things in the digital world that not only entertain them when they go to bed or when they’re at recess or on the playground. But also entertains them when they are at home on their iPad and computer. It’s a 2-for-1 bang for buck special.”
Were the Pudgy gifs planned?
“The gifs were totally random. But the second we saw it, we quadrupled down, but it was totally random in the beginning. It was a sheer accident but a happy accident.”
“I don’t need people to know about Pudgy Penguins now, but you want to know something when NFTs are the talk of the town again, and all those people have been using Pudgy gifs the whole time, that’s going be a really good source of credibility for them once everyone starts to want to buy NFTs.”
What’s your position on royalties?
“It shouldn’t be 0% and it shouldn’t be 5%. I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I think the number is between 1% and 1.5% is where I think the enforceable royalty should stand. The reason being is because you just have to incentivize the creator. [That’s] what made YouTube great, what made TikTok great.”
Are you a Wim Hof fanboy?
“Every day I do his breathing technique and I get high doing it. I recommend it because it’s the quickest way you can get high for free. I’m also setting up my cold plunge now.”
Where are Pudgys three years from now?
“We’re the face of NFTs, we’re the face of Web3. We have brought the most value to holders emotionally and fiscally. Three years from now we’re probably launching a movie. The movie is close.”
Links:
Website: http://www.pudgypenguins.com
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Risk appetite across traditional and cryptocurrency markets saw a sharp rise this week, helping United States cryptocurrency funds recover the capital lost to the correction of February and March, amassing over $7.5 billion worth of weekly inflows.
Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed its old all-time high on May 21, two days after President Donald Trump confirmed ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in a May 19 X post.
Meanwhile, popular analyst and Global Macro Investor CEO Raoul Pal warned of more fiat currency debasement, urging investors to gain more exposure to cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as these assets “will never be this cheap again.”
Exponential currency debasement: “You don’t own enough crypto, NFTs”
Cryptocurrencies and NFTs can help investors protect their eroding purchasing power during an era of exponential currency debasement, according to analysts and industry leaders.
Investing in digital assets is becoming increasingly important in the “world of the exponential age and currency debasement,” according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“You don’t own enough crypto. When you do, you don’t own enough NFT’s, as art is upstream of wealth. Both will never be this cheap again,” Pal said.
NFTs are “the single best long term store of wealth I know and you get to buy it before network effects kick in,” he added in another response.
“There is some validity to the statement that NFTs, and in extension art, become a vehicle for the wealthy once a certain level of wealth is reached,” wrote Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen, calling it a “natural move” for asset diversification.
“For traders and investors, further down the wealth curve, NFTs are partially about speculating on future returns,” he told Cointelegraph, adding that NFTs also benefit from the allure of strong communities, beyond just wealth creation.
US crypto funds top $7.5 billion inflows in 2025 as investor appetite grows
Crypto investment products in the United States have attracted over $7.5 billion worth of investment in 2025, with a fifth week of net positive inflows last week signaling growing investor demand for digital assets.
US-based crypto investment products attracted $785 million worth of investment last week, pushing the year-to-date (YTD) total to over $7.5 billion, according to a May 19 report by digital asset manager CoinShares.
The latest figure marks the fifth consecutive week of net positive flows, following nearly $7 billion in outflows during February and March.
The United States accounted for the bulk of inflows, with $681 million, followed by Germany at $86.3 million and Hong Kong at $24.4 million.
Investor demand for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies staged a significant recovery after the White House announced a 90-day pause on additional tariffs on May 12, which marked a 24% cut for import tariffs for both the US and China.
A day after the announcement, Coinbase exchange saw 9,739 Bitcoin worth more than $1 billion withdrawn from the exchange — the highest net outflow recorded in 2025, signaling that institutional appetite was “accelerating,” according to Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch.
VanEck to launch Avalanche ecosystem fund
VanEck plans to launch a private digital assets fund in June targeting tokenized Web3 projects built on the Avalanche blockchain network, the asset manager said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph.
The VanEck PurposeBuilt Fund, available only to accredited investors, aims to invest in liquid tokens and venture-backed projects across Web3 sectors, including gaming, financial services, payments, and artificial intelligence.
Idle capital will be deployed into Avalanche (AVAX) real-world asset (RWA) products, including tokenized money market funds, VanEck said.
The fund will be managed by the team behind VanEck’s Digital Assets Alpha Fund (DAAF), which oversees more than $100 million in net assets as of May 21.
“The next wave of value in crypto will come from real businesses, not more infrastructure,” Pranav Kanade, portfolio manager for DAAF, said in a statement.
Yield-bearing stablecoins surge to $11 billion, now 4.5% of market: Report
Yield-bearing stablecoins have soared to $11 billion in circulation, representing 4.5% of the total stablecoin market, a steep climb from just $1.5 billion and a 1% market share at the start of 2024.
One of the biggest winners is Pendle, a decentralized protocol that enables users to lock in fixed yields or speculate on variable interest rates. Pendle now accounts for 30% of all yield-bearing stablecoin total value locked (TVL), roughly $3 billion, according to a report from Pendle compiled by analysts from Spartan Group and Modular Capital shared with Cointelegraph.
The report noted that stablecoins make up 83% of its $4 billion total value locked, a sharp rise from less than 20% just a year ago. In contrast, assets such as Ether (ETH), which historically contributed 80%–90% of Pendle’s TVL, have shrunk to less than 10%.
Traditional stablecoins like USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) do not pass on interest to holders. With over $200 billion in circulation and US Federal Reserve interest rates at 4.3%, Pendle estimates that stablecoin holders are missing out on more than $9 billion in annual yield.
Tether surpasses Germany’s $111 billion of US Treasury holdings
Tether, the $151 billion stablecoin issuance giant, has surpassed Germany in United States Treasury bill holdings, showcasing the benefits of a diversified reserve strategy that has helped the firm navigate the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, has surpassed Germany’s $111.4 billion worth of US Treasurys, data from the US Department of the Treasury shows.
Tether has surpassed $120 billion worth of Treasury bills, the firm shared in its attestation report for the first quarter of 2025. That makes Tether the 19th largest entity among all counties in terms of T-bill investments.
“This milestone not only reinforces the company’s conservative reserve management strategy but also highlights Tether’s growing role in distributing dollar-denominated liquidity at scale,” wrote Tether in the report.
During 2024, Tether was the seventh-largest buyer of US Treasurys across all countries, surpassing Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Norway, Hong Kong and numerous other countries, Cointelegraph reported in March 2025.
DeFi market overview
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.
Worldcoin (WLD) rose over 32% as the week’s biggest gainer in the top 100, followed by the Hyperliquid (HYPE) token, up over 30% on the weekly chart.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
The top 220 holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin met yesterday at the president’s golf course in Virginia for an exclusive dinner and purported meet-and-greet.
Attendees spent a grand total of $148 million for an “ultra-exclusive VIP reception with the president,” which crypto industry advocates and critics alike saw as a potential opportunity to discuss crypto policy with the president.
The crowd contained a number of foreign crypto executives and influencers who otherwise would not have access to the US president, raising questions around corruption and foreign influence.
Concerns were further augmented when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to release a list of attendees, stating that the event was a private affair outside of Trump’s presidential duties.
However, some attendees spoke to the press or took to social media to talk about the dinner. Here are just a few:
Justin Sun
Tron founder Justin Sun was the largest TRUMP tokenholder at the gala, which was reportedly enough to earn him a special watch, presented in a special ceremony.
Sun’s presence at the event was particularly controversial. Last year, he faced a lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged “orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.”
The SEC asked for a reprieve in late February, just over a month since Trump’s inauguration and the subsequent 180 in federal agencies’ approach toward regulating crypto.
Outside the crypto dinner, Sun posted on May 21 that he would be spending a week in Washington, DC to have “meaningful conversations that will help shape the next chapter of blockchain’s future” in the United States.
Kain Warwick
Kain Warwick, founder of crypto exchange operator iFinex, told The New York Times on May 12 that he was attending the event after stocking up on enough TRUMP to break the top 25 investors on the leaderboard.
Warwick said he wanted to have a shot at meeting the president, or someone on his team, to talk crypto — specifically decentralized finance (DeFi), which is getting less attention in the current crop of crypto bills circulating the US Congress.
“If you assume Trump and 10 people within the Trump team are there, now you’ve got a one in 15 shot of having a conversation with one of them,” he said.
Vincent Liu
Vincent Liu, chief investment officer of crypto trading, VC and market-making firm Kronos Research, attended the event, posting pictures of the menu and Trump’s brief speech.
Liu wrote, “Simply by holding the Trump token, individuals have an unprecedented opportunity to meet the President of the United States.”
He had previously told Cointelegraph, “The decision to acquire the [TRUMP] token was not political. It was based on identifying early momentum, cultural relevance and potential market catalysts.”
Related: US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner
His firm stated that “alpha” — i.e., exclusive or difficult-to-obtain information that could move markets — was “on the menu.”
Lamar Odom
Also in attendance was two-time National Basketball Association champion Lamar Odom. While many other crypto entrepreneurs in the audience were focused on policy, Odom used news of his attendance to plug his own memecoin, ODOM.
Odom launched his memecoin less than a week before the dinner on May 14. The anti-addiction-themed memecoin (Odom had a public battle with substance addiction) is issued on the Solana blockchain.
The coin itself had a 20% “Trump Dinner Program” staking scheme, where TRUMP holders could stake their coins with Odom’s project, ostensibly to enable him to attend the dinner event, and receive ODOM airdrops in return. Odom himself will hold 5% of all ODOM.
Sangrok Oh
CEO of Seoul- and Tokyo-based cryptocurrency management firm Hyperithm, Sangrok Oh was the 13th-largest TRUMP holder with a wallet containing over $3 million worth of the token, according to the Straits Times.
Oh told The New York Times that he had arrived with a batch of red “Make Crypto Great Again” hats to give away at the dinner and expected to speak directly with the president. “It’s kind of a fund-raiser […] And he’ll always be good to his sponsors.”
Oh has been critical of the slow regulatory progress for crypto in the countries where his company operates.
Anonymous attendees
In addition to crypto execs and sports stars, the event also noted a few anonymous or pseudonymous crypto traders and entrepreneurs in attendance.
Among them was “Ice,” co-founder of the Singaporean crypto company MemeCore. Their company’s chief business development officer, Cherry Hsu, told Sherwood News that Trump’s rise “represents the power of memes to influence culture, perception, and movements — principles that align with MemeCore’s vision of a decentralized, community-driven future.”
“Ogle,” a cybersecurity adviser to Trump’s own World Liberty Financial crypto enterprise, as well as the pseudonymous co-founder of blockchain ecosystem Glue, also attended. Ogle said they were going out of curiosity, more than anything, and did not endorse Trump personally. “I’m hoping it’ll be fun — and hoping they’ll serve McDonald’s.”
Another anonymous attendee was “Cryptoo Bear,” a crypto trader and occasional news reporter who posts primarily in Japanese. Cryptoo Bear made no political statements about the event, mainly posting about the swag and the food. They did say they were promised a photo op with the president, but it didn’t pan out.
Dinner “guests” across the picket line
Outside the country club, US senators and former staffers attended the event as part of a protest.
Bloomberg reported that protestors shouted “Shame!” and “I hope you choke on your dinner!” at attendees. Critics of the event widely consider it to be a glaring example of corruption in Washington and within the Trump administration.
Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, joined the protest. “The spirit of the Constitution was that no one elected would be selling influence to anyone,” he said, “because it’s to be government by and for the people.”
Ken Papaj, a former Treasury Department official, said, “Every time there’s a transaction, he gets a transaction fee? Just unconscionable what he’s doing.”
The dinner comes at a pivotal time for the crypto industry in the US, where the industry is pushing hard for Congress to pass friendly regulations. Trump’s ties may complicate matters, however, as lawmakers have introduced anti-corruption bills targeting crypto and politicians.
Senate Democrats are also taking aim at the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act, introducing a slew of amendments addressing Trump’s crypto businesses.
Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize more than $24 million in cryptocurrency from Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, a Russian national accused of developing the Qakbot malware.
According to a May 22 announcement, the DOJ unsealed charges against the 48-year-old Moscovite with a federal indictment. Gallyamov is allegedly the malware developer behind the Qakbot botnet.
“Today’s announcement of the Justice Department’s latest actions to counter the Qakbot malware scheme sends a clear message to the cybercrime community,” said Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s criminal division.
Galeotti highlighted that the DOJ is “determined to hold cybercriminals accountable.” He added that the department will “use every legal tool” to “identify you, charge you, forfeit your ill-gotten gains, and disrupt your criminal activity.”
Related: Microsoft takes legal action against infostealer Lumma
Over $24 million forfeited
US Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California explained that “the criminal charges and forfeiture case announced today are part of an ongoing effort” to “identify, disrupt, and hold accountable cybercriminals.” He added:
“The forfeiture action against more than $24 million in virtual assets also demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to seizing ill-gotten assets from criminals in order to ultimately compensate victims.”
Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office said that Qakbot was crippled by the agency and its partners in 2023. Still, Gallyamov allegedly continued deploying alternative methods to offer his malware to potential partners.
Related: Chinese printer maker spread Bitcoin stealing malware — Report
Qakbot used in global ransomware attacks
Gallyamov allegedly operated the Qakbot malware as far back as 2008. In 2019, he allegedly used it to infect thousands of victim computers to establish a so-called botnet.
Access to computers that were part of the botnet was sold to others who infected them with ransomware, including Prolock, Dopplepaymer, Egregor, REvil, Conti, Name Locker, Black Bast and Cactus. In 2023, a US-led international operation disrupted the Qakbot botnet and malware.
At the time, over 170 Bitcoin (BTC) and over $4 million in USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) stablecoins were seized from Gallyamov. According to the indictment, he and his collaborators continued the activity after it was disrupted, adopting new techniques, including directly deploying Black Basta and Cactus ransomware.
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