Coinbase sparked waves of excitement across the crypto community Friday after replacing its trademark blue X logo with a Pudgy Penguins NFT and posting the caption, “new pfp, who dis.”
The move quickly triggered a surge in PENGU—the native token of the penguin-themed ecosystem—which jumped more than 60% before pulling back slightly. Despite the correction, PENGU remains up over 35% for the week.
Shortly after Coinbase’s avatar switch, the official Pudgy Penguins account followed suit with a matching icy blue profile picture. The synchronized branding fueled speculation of a potential partnership between Coinbase and Igloo Inc., the company behind Pudgy Penguins. The trend quickly spread, with companies like VanEck, MoonPay, and AwakenTax also adopting Pudgy Penguin profile images.
The viral moment extended to NFT markets, where Pudgy Penguins saw their floor price jump from around 9 ETH earlier in the week to 11.58 ETH, according to NFTPriceFloor. NFT trading volume surged nearly 690% in just 24 hours.
The profile change was part of a brief takeover of Coinbase’s X account by pseudonymous Crypto Twitter figure AlexOnChain, who previously ran social strategy for Binance. Following the event, Coinbase announced that AlexOnChain would be joining the company full-time as its first-ever “CT Lead.”
“The new focus is making comms more social native—direct, transparent, and engaging,” Alex wrote on X. “It’s a big job, but that’s exactly why I took it.”
Meanwhile, broader enthusiasm for the Pudgy ecosystem was further boosted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s acknowledgment of Canary Capital’s filing for a spot PENGU ETF—a development that adds institutional momentum to the recent surge.
