Pudgy Penguins Surpass BAYC to Become Second-Largest NFT Collection by Market Cap

Pudgy Penguins, a prominent non-fungible token (NFT) project, has overtaken the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) to become the second-largest NFT collection by market capitalization.

According to CoinGecko, the floor price of Pudgy Penguins surged by 8.4% in the past 24 hours to 22.1 ETH ($86,922), reflecting a 44.9% increase over the week.

The rise pushed the collection’s market cap to $772.5 million, surpassing BAYC’s $755 million.

CryptoPunks Continues to Hold Top Spot

CryptoPunks continues to hold the top spot with a market cap of $1.5 billion.

The surge in Pudgy Penguins’ value coincides with the announcement of an upcoming token airdrop.

The project plans to launch its new cryptocurrency, “Pengu,” on the Solana blockchain this month, with a total supply of 88.89 billion tokens.

A significant portion, 25.9%, will be distributed to the Pudgy community.

“With Pengu, the millions of Pudgy Penguin fans and the hundreds of millions of people outside of crypto that see and share the Pudgy Penguin every day finally have the opportunity to align themselves with the character.”

Pudgy Penguins was one of the early pioneers of crypto culture and continues to be a driving force behind the mass adoption of crypto assets.

The launch of PENGU marks the beginning of a prophecy years in the making. pic.twitter.com/c36nY7oLrd

— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) December 6, 2024

While the NFT market has cooled since its 2022 peak, Ethereum-based NFTs recorded $91 million in weekly trading volume between Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, a notable rebound from $56.6 million the previous week.

OpenSea to Launch Revamped NFT Platform This Month

NFT marketplace OpenSea is set to launch a revamped platform in December, aiming to reinvigorate user interest amid a sustained downturn in the NFT market.

Last month, OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer revealed that the team “built a new OpenSea from the ground up.”

However, Finzer did not provide specific details about the new features, directing users instead to a waiting list where they could connect a crypto wallet.

The NFT market bounced back in October with an 18% increase in sales volume, reversing a seven-month downward trend.

According to CryptoSlam data, NFTs saw a monthly volume of $356 million, up from September’s low of approximately $300 million, the lowest level since 2021.

NFT trading had been declining steadily since March, when monthly volumes peaked at $1.6 billion.

By September, the market had shrunk significantly, with volumes dipping 20% from August alone.

However, October marked a brief but notable recovery for digital collectibles.

October’s increase wasn’t just in dollar terms; transaction numbers surged as well, totaling 7.2 million for the month, a 42% jump from September’s five million transactions. Weekly data also indicated heightened activity.

The top-selling NFT collections last month were led by the Mythos Chain-based DMarket, which generated $33 million in sales over 30 days.

Immutable-based Guild of Guardians Heroes followed with a $13 million volume.

Popular Bitcoin and Ethereum-based collections, including Bitcoin Puppets, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and CryptoPunks, also recorded strong performances in October.