Memecoins.
Love them or loathe them, they’ve become a staple in this asset class.
It’s not just for retail investors looking for easy money, but even institutional investors looking to capitalise on the hype.
Earlier this week, Grayscale filed an S-1 with the US SEC to convert its Dogecoin Trust to a spot ETF.
Despite being the world’s first and largest memecoin, many will be looking for an alternative to DOGE that’s relatively cheaper, yet somewhat established.
One to consider is a brand with a growing presence, especially with its popular collection of 8,888 unique NFTs, and a Canary Capital spot ETF registration with the SEC in March.
Enter Pudgy Penguins and its native token, PENGU.
Today, I will cover three major reasons why I believe PENGU will be one of the most profitable (top-100) memecoins this cycle.
Let’s begin:
1) DOGE, SHIB, PEPE and many others are already “old”
If there’s one thing to understand about memecoin enthusiasts and some casual crypto investors, it’s that most of them focus on the hype behind the newer tokens to join the club of memecoin millionaires.
In today’s attention economy, tokens, like many smartphone models, get old very quickly.
There is a cohort of this space that couldn’t care less about Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets with genuine utility, opting to dedicate time and resources to these memes.
As we’re here to make money, I’ll dabble in this nonsense from time to time for the fun of it, especially if I pick one that manages to outperform BTC or ETH for a while.
I admit there are still fairly committed communities behind the coins and tokens I listed earlier, but in reality, besides some involvement with charities, none of these are meant to be taken seriously, so there’s little utility behind these besides short-term entertainment value.
PENGU is relatively young and one of the few major memecoins (a $3 billion market cap and counting) that has a massive 730,000-strong following behind it.
BONK still has its fans, PUMP is gaining popularity due to its memecoin launchpad, and SNEK is also rising in the ranks.
Moreover, multinational investment firm VanEck seems bullish on the project, featuring a Pudgy Penguin mascot in June to ring Nasdaq’s trading bell, and still donning a penguin-themed logo on its X account.
not AI https://t.co/lUlYyObVIh
— VanEck (@vaneck_us) June 24, 2025
2) A physical presence with a reasonable name, unlike many other memecoins
With potential partnerships, a pending spot ETF and tangible goods (e.g., plush toys and kids’ books) already being sold through major chains such as Selfridges, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, PENGU stands out from its competitors in its category.
Pudgy Penguins is a brand that most people could get behind, much more so than Fartcoin, Snek, Floki Inu and others.
Even Pepe doesn’t have the same allure as the penguins, at least not when it comes to a broad and sustained appeal. That’s my take on it.
In the virtual world, we’ve also seen the recent release of Pudgy Party, a mobile obstacle-course game, and the upcoming release of Pudgy World, an open-world game.
I’m not a gamer, but I know hundreds of millions of people worldwide are interested in these products, so there would be some interest in these products.
Rather, I’m all for anything legitimate that helps promote the products I’m invested in: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, some other altcoins and in this case, the Pudgy Penguins brand and ultimately, PENGU.
If the stars align and we secure rate cuts, PENGU ETF approval, and improvements to (or no further degradation of) geopolitics, along with huge partnerships, expect big things for this token.
3) Speculation about a McDonald’s partnership (or other massive collabs)
In a recent Ivan on Tech livestream, Ivan pointed out interactions between Pudgy Penguins and McDonald’s. He also covered the possibility of a potential partnership with Pudgy Penguins or $PENGU.
Bear in mind that there’s no confirmation from either entity regarding a collab, so these are still rumours.
As winter’s coming, I wouldn’t be surprised if it rolls out a Pudgy Penguin-themed meal or a similar promotion in the lead-up to Christmas/the holiday season, especially if we witness a fully-fledged altcoin boom in Q4.
Don’t underestimate the further growth potential of this brand. It’s come a long way since Luca ‘Netz’ Schnetzler purchased the brand’s NFT collection in 2022 for 750 ETH, $2.5 million at the time.
PENGU/USDT chart. Screenshot taken on August 18, 2025. Source: Binance via TradingView.
Also, as most people from middle-income and developed countries live in the Northern Hemisphere, winter time has often coincided with some of the most explosive gains in crypto bull runs, such as those seen in 2017 and 2021.
As a memecoin, don’t forget to convert profits into BTC or ETH, and a portion into fiat.
A quick word of warning
Besides the PSA about memecoin, let alone crypto assets, being highly speculative, it’s worth paying attention to these two metrics, which could change over time:
– Wallet holdings, focusing on the top-100 options: According to Bubblemaps, two wallets manage nearly 28% of the PENGU tokens in circulation, at 16.29% and 11.66%, respectively.
At present, this doesn’t concern me. However, I will periodically keep an eye on this.
The more concentrated the token holdings, the more likely it is for these whales to heavily influence the price. Consider this for any crypto you’re investing in, particularly small- to mid-caps.
– Security score: DEXTools reports a PENGU security score of 99/99, meaning it is very unlikely to be a scam.
Although this may seem obvious for established memecoin projects such as this one, many newcomers and even seasoned crypto enthusiasts are still unaware of these metrics and tools for checking them.
If you’re intent on dabbling in micro-cap cryptos, you should definitely check these things before putting money into them.
To be even more informed than the average crypto participant, consider:
– Major Partnerships, Updates, and News: Who are these blockchain projects partnering with, particularly any big names?
– Social-media following and how project founders interact with and update their fans, i.e., prospective investors.
– Transparency and communication with its audience.
Additional thoughts
This market is irrational, and so are many of us in general, myself included, at times.
To put it bluntly, it’s taking a gamble…with chump change, assuming you’re not reckless.
PENGU represents approximately 0.2% of my Bitcoin and crypto portfolio, so even if it collapses in price before I sell it all, my life would continue without issues.
Why do I bother with memecoins here and there?
Asymmetrical gains.
Some buy lottery tickets; others opt for memecoins.
If you understand crypto market narratives and can gauge the social-media following of these projects, your odds of making good gains from these tokens are still better than any significant lottery winnings.
If PENGU manages to outperform BTC 5x this cycle, then I’ve managed to boost my Bitcoin bag. Simple.
If not, it was a bit of fun, like being on a literal rollercoaster ride, minus the risk of passing out or throwing up.
Are you dabbling in memecoins during this cycle? If so, how do you plan on taking profits (assuming you make them)?
P.S. As 99% of my content focuses on BTC and serious cryptocurrencies, this will be my only piece covering memecoins, at least not for 9-12 months. I will stick to what matters, and this article remains an exception to the rule.
P.P.S. Regarding the four-year cycle, Adam Back, the inventor of Hashcash, which is the basis for Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm, believes it’s time to rethink how we judge the timing of these four-year BTC/crypto cycles.
This is something I will return to in the coming months as this bull market progresses.
reminder last halving cycle top was mar 2024 $73.7k, cycle started may 2020, this cycle started apr 2024. there were earlier tops apr 2021 $64.8k and nov 2021 $69k. cycle end estimate mar 2028, so for cycle top calls, Q4 2027 (or Q1 2028) is a 4 year interval from prior cycle top pic.twitter.com/rJTy07yk4S
— Adam Back (@adam3us) August 13, 2025
Affiliate links
If you’d like to purchase a Ledger or Trezor product, please use the following link to help support my channel. I receive a small commission per sale at no additional cost.
https://shop.ledger.com/?r=a1b3ac23d773
https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_id=169&aff_id=35611
You might also be interested in these stories:
https://medium.com/@cryptowithlorenzo/bitcoin-is-going-to-zero-5562122f5481
Disclaimers
- N.B. None of this is financial advice; I am not a financial advisor. This information is for educational purposes only. You are ultimately responsible for your investments.
- My opinions in this piece might not reflect those behind any news outlet, person, organisation, or otherwise listed here.
- I received no incentive to cover Pudgy Penguins or PENGU.
- For every success story you hear, dozens of people failed by gambling on highly speculative cryptocurrencies, especially memecoins.
Featued image by ShamimStore at Shutterstock.