Pudgy Penguins Confirms Multiple Nasdaq Appearances With Pengu

pudgypenguins says its characters have appeared at @Nasdaq in New York City on multiple occasions, the latest step in the NFT brand's crossover into traditional finance. The project highlighted the appearances on Oct. 13, 2026, sharing a post that showed Pengu at the exchange's opening bell ceremony alongside vaneck_us under the banner "Institutional Penguins."

VanEck, the asset manager behind several US-listed spot crypto ETFs, joined the mascot for the opening bell, a ceremonial role Nasdaq reserves for companies and partners marking milestones.

Pudgy Penguins began as an 8,888-piece NFT collection on Ethereum. Luca Netz acquired it in April 2022 and repositioned it as a consumer brand rather than a speculative asset. Its toys are distributed at Walmart and Target with more than 1.5 million units sold, and its PENGU token underpins governance and ecosystem utility. The brand has recently extended its retail footprint in Japan, Seoul and at Incheon International Airport.

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The Nasdaq appearances mark a continued push by a crypto-native IP into mainstream financial venues. Pudgy Penguins has not disclosed the terms, structure or duration of any arrangement with Nasdaq or VanEck.