Coinbase’s Pudgy Penguin Avatar Change, ETF Hopes Ignite 60% PENGU Rally

Coinbase broke with its usual blue logo on X, posting a Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token as its profile picture alongside the quip “new pfp, who dis.”

Minutes later, PENGU, the native token of the penguin-themed ecosystem, started surging. The token rose more than 60% in the rally before enduring a correction, but it’s still up more than 35% for the week.

The official Pudgy Penguins account mirrored the move, sending matching ice-blue avatars gliding across feeds and leading to talk of a partnership between Coinbase and Igloo Inc., the startup that steers the collection. Various crypto-related firms, including , , and have since changed their profile pictures to pudgy penguins.

The stunt has also lifted the floor price of Pudgy Penguin NFTs, which was earlier this week around 9 ETH, and quickly jumped to 11.58 ETH according to . The volume for the project’s NFTs grew nearly 690% in the last 24 hours.

Coinbase changed its profile picture during a short account takeover from pseudonymous Crypto Twitter personality AlexOnChain, who previouslyof leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance for four years.

After the takeover, Coinbase revealed they’re hiring AlexOnChain as their first full-time “CT Lead.”

“The new focus is making comms more social native – direct, transparent, and engaging. That’s the path to building a bigger appreciation for everything they’ve contributed to this space (which is a lot), and to help reconnect with ct,” Alex said in a post. “It’s a big job, it won’t be easy, and that’s why I took it.”

PENGU’s price rise also comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Canary Capital’s filing for a spot PENGU ETF.