The Pudgy Penguins project has initiated a significant airdrop of its new token, PENGU, on the Solana blockchain, valued at $1.5 billion.
The token went live on Dec. 17, 2024, and has quickly gained traction, reaching the 76th position in the crypto market with a current price of approximately $0.0335 and a market cap nearing $2.1 billion.
Eligible claimants include holders of Pudgy Penguins NFTs, participants in partnered collections, NFT traders across Ethereum and Solana, and even holders of the FTT token from the now-defunct FTX exchange.
A total supply of over 88.88 billion PENGU tokens has been allocated, with more than half designated for this airdrop. The claim window will remain open for 88 days, closing on March 15, 2025.
Despite the high demand, many users experienced difficulties during the claiming process, citing issues involving receiving fewer tokens than expected. Reports indicate that over 100,000 claims were made within the first hour, leading to website traffic exceeding 4.7 million visits.
The Pudgy Penguins team suggested that distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks may have contributed to these challenges. Users who received partial claims have been advised to refresh the site and attempt the claim process again.
In response to the airdrop, the prices of Pudgy Penguins NFTs surged, with some selling for over $100,000. However, following the token claims, prices began to decline, with current listings starting at around $63,000, a drop of 48% in just one day.
Nearly $1.5 billion worth of PENGU has already traded today, making it the 14th most actively traded token among the top 100 cryptocurrencies.