Pudgy Penguins-Themed Meme Coin Surges

The Pudgy Penguins-themed meme coin, PENGU, has surged over 100% in the past week, driven by ETF chatter and active promotions on social media—but analysts are questioning the lasting strength of the rally.

PENGU is currently trading at just under $0.031, up 9.7% in the last 24 hours and 101% on the week, according to CoinGecko data.

This rally follows the U.S. SEC’s new filings, including a 19b-4 application from Cboe to permit trading of the Canary PENGU ETF. Canary Capital first filed for this product in March while the SEC deliberates over two dozen altcoin ETF proposals, including those for Solana (SOL), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE).

Despite these impressive gains, experts are divided on PENGU’s ability to sustain momentum. Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Research, noted that PENGU’s price action hasn’t been entirely erratic, even with thin fundamentals. Jung suggested that PENGU’s rise is likely fueled by ETF approval hype and high-profile crypto players like OpenSea and Coinbase changing their profile pictures to Pingu NFTs.

PENGU received additional momentum when Coinbase shifted its X profile picture to a Pudgy Penguins NFT, generating bullish sentiment. This profile change took place during a brief takeover by Alex A., Coinbase’s Crypto Twitter Lead, who aims to enhance public messaging and community engagement.

> “Alex took over our account for an hour. Now we’re taking him over forever.”
> — Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) July 11, 2025

Jung mentioned that the rise in PENGU has been relatively steady rather than spiking suddenly due to news, suggesting the rally may extend beyond just ETF speculation. However, the analyst expressed caution regarding long-term sustainability, observing that PENGU’s position depends on Bitcoin and the overall crypto market’s bullish trends.

Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) has recently dipped 4% to $117,000, despite logging strong institutional flows of $2.7 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows last week.

Will a PENGU ETF Happen?

Arjun Vijay, founder of crypto exchange Giottus, has doubts about the fundamental value of a proposed PENGU ETF. He noted that ETFs usually cater to large institutional investors, and given even well-established cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin lack an ETF, the case for a PENGU ETF seems weak.

On the prediction market platform Myriad, users show skepticism regarding a PENGU ETF approval before October, with 58.5% voting against it. Vijay remains unconvinced that PENGU can maintain its trajectory, stating that it lacks fundamental use cases and is merely another meme coin creating temporary narratives.

He cautioned that trading based on hype may not always lead to collapse, noting that even “zombie coins” like Ethereum Classic, LTC, and BCH sustain billion-dollar valuations.