Pudgy Penguins
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 42 → 60. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −12.4, the subject's own conduct −8, incidents the subject suffered −1.2, problems around the subject, caused by others −1.1; legitimacy credit long-running +8. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| The subject's own conduct | -8 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -12.4 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -1.2 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -1.1 |
| Long-running | +8 |
| Sum | 50 |
Score: 60/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Pudgy Penguins is a crypto-native consumer brand built around an 8,888-piece Ethereum NFT collection launched in July 2021, now operated by Igloo Inc. and spanning a Solana token (PENGU), physical toys sold at Walmart and Target, a browser game, and media licensing. The brand survived an early-2022 community revolt that ousted its original founders over alleged treasury mismanagement, and has since attracted institutional funding, but it continues to face unresolved disputes, including a trademark lawsuit, disputed allegations about how its current CEO financed his acquisition of the project, large unexplained insider token transfers, and repeated third-party phishing campaigns impersonating its products.
Connected Entities
21 entities · 59 linked investigations- FhPorZ…nYbX→sent funds to→Pudgy Penguins(70%)
- Binance Exchange 1→associated with→Pudgy Penguins(60%)
- GHQKNz…rSNH→controls→Pudgy Penguins(43%)
- qMNo1R…4UZA→controls→Pudgy Penguins(47%)
- 9jBmHX…EdWL→controls→Pudgy Penguins(43%)
- 8Mm46C…MZQH→controls→Pudgy Penguins(46%)
- 381EGw…oVuD→controls→Pudgy Penguins(42%)
- GcEXZE…ZJZu→controls→Pudgy Penguins(59%)
- Pudgy Penguins Token Deployer→controls→Pudgy Penguins(53%)
- 5PLU3M…Lrkm→controls→Pudgy Penguins(49%)
- + 10 more
Live On-Chain Activity
1 address watched · via HeliusTimeline(11 events)
January 2022
Holders accuse the original founding team of treasury mismanagement and unmet promises; community campaign votes to oust the founders.
CoinDesk (via Yahoo Finance)April 2022
Entrepreneur Luca Netz acquires the Pudgy Penguins brand and IP for roughly 750 ETH (about $2.5 million) and becomes CEO.
BlockmediaOctober 2023
Pseudonymous researcher "Horlomite Research" publishes an exposé alleging Netz funded his Pudgy Penguins purchase with proceeds from earlier NFT projects characterized as rug pulls; Netz denies the allegations.
ChainCatcher20 October 2023
PEI Licensing (Original Penguin/Perry Ellis) sends Pudgy Penguins a cease-and-desist letter over alleged trademark infringement.
Decrypt23 July 2024
Igloo Inc., the company behind Pudgy Penguins, announces an $11 million-plus funding round led by Founders Fund.
AxiosDecember 2024
PENGU, the Solana-based token for the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem, launches via airdrop and begins trading; price falls more than 50% in the first hours.
CointelegraphJuly 2025
On-chain analysts report a PENGU-deployer-linked wallet moving over $66 million in tokens to centralized exchanges between July 12 and July 28, followed by a further $5.64 million transfer on July 30, amid price declines.
crypto.news / AMBCryptoAugust 2025
CEO Luca Netz's Instagram account is hacked and used to promote an unrelated token, $IGLOO, on Pump.fun.
ProtosMarch 2026
Pudgy World browser game launches; within days, a phishing site impersonating the game's wallet-connection flow is identified by security researchers.
Malwarebytes LabsMarch 2026
PEI Licensing files a trademark infringement lawsuit against Pudgy Penguins in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
DecryptDecision Log
- slot 455366743 · hash 7HQTU1MrAzKjy2V4SdVNz5CoQ6ETmxxMSkk3FboBkFTF
- slot 419628897 · hash 4AzFdiCMheRnkni5eeZVQoLvDxYu7vNJYMyb169DCiV4
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (2 decisions). 18 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/13/2026, 1:40:33 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:46:57 PM
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