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Will we ever see NFTS again? Luca Netz thinks so.
The Pudgy Penguins have become one of the most recognizable brands in crypto since Luca “Netz” Schnetzler took over the helm in early 2022 and eventually the CEO of Igloo Inc. And later the co-version of the Ethereum L2-Abstract became.
“I think you’ll see Mania again,” Netz told me in an interview. “I think you will see a version of 2020, 2021 happening. I think you’ll see that again.”
Netz also has the hot take that gaming is even more Probably jumps in a big way. “I am even more secure about gaming than I am NFTs,” he said.
While the Penguins started as an NFT collection, they have since expanded much further with games, on meme-inspired social videos, children’s books and plush toys.
Believe it or not, they try not to make a toy brand. It is a larger IP game that sees Netz as competing with memes such as Doge and Pepe in the short-term and giants such as Pokémon or Hello Kitty in the coming years.
Part of the attraction from a brand position is that physical toys can capture a different part of a person’s life and retain a manufacturer when all screens are eliminated. They can also be intergenerational and have meaning for adults and children.
“It is not even a great income business, to be honest. It provides a lot of top-line income, but it is not, you know, I have not bought Pudgy Penguins to build a toy company,” he said. “If I didn’t earn money on the toys, I would like it. If I lost money to the toy, to a certain extent, I would like it. Now we earn money from the toys, and so it’s great.”
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Netz bought the Penguins brand three years ago for 750 ETH, or around $ 2.5 million, at that time ($ 2.9 million today).
Chat with Netz there is a determination and trust that suggests that he will not stop until “everyone in crypto” has a piece of Pudgy Penguin IP and some Pingu, the connected memecoin of the brand.