Bonus Episode: Pudgy Penguins’ toys hit Walmart with hopes of expanding NFTs revenue and adoption (w/ Luca Netz)
This week, we have a bonus episode where Jacquelyn and TechCrunch+ Editor in Chief Alex Wilhelm interviewed Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins. Pudgy Penguins, originally known for its flagship collection of 8,888 NFTs that began in 2021 has expanded beyond that into a “IP and brand development company” after Luca bought the project for $2.5 million and took over as CEO in April 2022. For context, Pudgy Penguins digital collectibles have generated over $400 million in transaction volume since release. That early success in the NFT market has now been parlayed into the creation of an open-world digital player experience called Pudgy World, which integrates blockchain technology from Ethereum and zkSync Era, and through its toy line, Pudgy Toys, that launched back in May. We discussed with Luca how those toys launched in 2,000 Walmart stores across the U.S. and Smyths, one of the biggest toy stores in the United Kingdom; in addition to prior launches in Five Below, Amazon, Hot Topic and others stores.