Pudgy Penguins showcased an animated display at the Las Vegas Sphere during Christmas week, illuminating the venue’s exterior screens with its penguin characters.
According to a post on X, Pudgy Penguins announced that its animations debuted on Christmas Eve on the exterior of the Las Vegas Sphere, a renowned venue featuring high-resolution LED panels ideal for large-scale visual displays visible throughout the Las Vegas Strip.
Pudgy Penguins is an NFT project established in 2021 and purchased in April 2022 by entrepreneur Luca Netz for $2.5 million in Ether (ETH). With the decline in NFT revenue, Netz utilized his consumer products background to broaden the project from digital collectibles into physical toy production to secure cash flow.
“Toys generate significant revenue, but the margins are thin,” Netz stated in an August interview with Cointelegraph. “We’re selling millions of dollars’ worth of toys today, but it took time to scale into that business.”
What started as a temporary initiative to extend the company’s runway has now transformed into a core business line, positioning Pudgy Penguins to conclude the year with an estimated $50 million in revenue.
The company also places a strong emphasis on Instagram for brand promotion. Currently, the Pudgy Penguins account boasts around 2 million followers.
Related: Polygon NFTs hit $2B sales milestone as network defies downturn
2025 was a challenging year for NFTs
The NFT market commenced 2025 under strain, with sales activity sharply declining. First-quarter transaction volumes decreased by 63% year over year to $1.5 billion, down from $4.1 billion during the same period in 2024.
The downturn escalated in March, when monthly sales dropped 76% to $373 million from $1.6 billion a year prior, although a select few collections, including Pudgy Penguins, showed relative resilience.
By the year’s end, overall market valuations had also seen a decline. CoinGecko data indicated that the total NFT market capitalization fell to about $2.5 billion in December, marking its lowest point of 2025.
However, despite the overall market downturn, several NFT projects have managed to carve out a niche within the industry. One consistently strong area in 2025 is real-world collectible-backed NFTs, particularly trading cards, with platforms like Courtyard.io connecting authenticated Pokémon cards to on-chain tokens that can be traded or redeemed.
According to CryptoSlam, Courtyard has facilitated over 230,000 transactions and generated approximately $13.9 million in sales in the past 30 days.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Courtyard CEO Nicolas le Jeune emphasized the importance of employing the blockchain as a “tool, not a destination.”
“The cards you buy on Courtyard aren’t worth more because they’re NFTs. The value lies in the underlying asset — the NFT merely offers a better way to experience it,” he said.
Magazine: Sei wallets in Xiaomi, Bhutan’s gold on Solana: Asia Express
