Pudgy Penguin sells 1M plushies, Donald Trump making ‘NFTs hot again:’ Nifty Newsletter

May 15, 202419:00 UTC

Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s Nifty Newsletter. Keep reading to stay up-to-date with the latest stories on nonfungible tokens. Every Wednesday, the Nifty Newsletter will inform and inspire you to dig deeper into the latest NFT trends and insights.

This week’s newsletter looks at the steady rise of the Pudgy Penguins’ nonfungible token (NFT) collection, some of the most talked about moments from Donald Trump’s NFT event, Ghana’s NFT stamps to honor the king, and more.

Pudgy Penguins sold one million plushies in 12 months, says CEO

More than a million Pudgy Penguin toys have been sold over the past 12 months, according to the CEO of the NFT project, Luca Schnetzler.

On May 13, the founder of the popular Pudgy Penguins NFT project revealed that sales have soared as it continues expanding into retailers around the globe. The sales milestone follows the May 12 announcement that Pudgy Toys with Pudgy World were now available in the United States retail giant Target.

Pudgy Penguins is a popular NFT collection created in 2021, featuring 8,888 colorful penguin avatars. The project had a rocky start, with the former founder embroiled in rug pull accusations. However, Schnetzler bought the brand in 2022 for $2.5 million.

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Religious leaders debate going to church in the metaverse

When the first radio and television broadcasts began to trickle into homes around the world, religious programming was among the early mainstays of new media. Now, as the world pivots away from flat, 2D screens and frequency-bound audio broadcasts, religious practitioners from around the globe have begun adopting metaverse, Web3, spatial computing and artificial intelligence technologies as conduits to faith.

However, there are still naysayers who believe there are dangers associated with these technologies, faith leaders who wonder if modern technological trappings are necessary, and billions of traditional religious followers awaiting guidance.

Three memorable moments from Donald Trump’s “Mugshot” NFT event

Former U.S. President Donald Trump made more than a few memorable quotes as he hosted a gaggle of NFT enthusiasts at his Florida home on Wednesday, May 8.

Besides vowing to keep crypto entrepreneurs in the U.S., Trump also took partial credit for making “NFTs hot again” thanks to his sizeable collection. He even dissed a political rival’s inspired memecoin — inadvertently causing its price to surge. Several clips of his most memorable lines surfaced on X on May 8.

Ghana’s crypto stamps honor king’s Silver Jubilee

Ghana’s national postal service ensures that its king’s 25th coronation anniversary will be remembered forever, unaltered, on the blockchain.

Ghana Post released a new stamp collection, “Crypto Stamp,” in honor of His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. The crypto stamp collection pays homage to the king’s 25-year-long contribution to Ghana’s development and cultural integrity. Signaling this blend of traditional values and new-age technology, the physical crypto stamps are linked to unique NFTs verifiable over the blockchain.

Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.