In this episode of Bankless, Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, explores how meme coins are evolving beyond speculation. We discuss Pengu’s launch on Solana, Pudgy Penguins’ expansion into retail and gaming, and how GIFs with 300M+ daily views are driving mass adoption. Luca also shares why meme coins can be real brands and what’s next for Pudgy’s growing ecosystem.
------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙 FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty
⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐 CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo
🏦ONDO | INSTITUTIONAL GRADE FINANCE https://bankless.cc/Ondo
------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/24?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E
------ TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 Intro 00:03:53 Opinion on Pengu token and its competitor 00:08:03 Reformatting the idea of a memecoin 00:12:32 Pudgy Penguins aren't just memes 00:16:09 Solana competitor vs Pengu 00:20:03 Impact of 30 Billion views on the GIFs on the brand 00:22:56 How does the GIFs system work? 00:25:27 GIFs working principle 00:27:13 Big brands doing SEO on GIFs 00:28:38 Non-crypto people using Pudgy GIFs 00:31:59 Physical Products of Pudgy Penguins 00:36:50 Other components of expanding the brand 00:38:56 How big is the conglomerate? 00:39:26 Choosing Solana L1 over L2 00:45:27 Where does Base stand in the algorithm? 00:51:26 Some thoughts on Ethereum's current state 00:55:32 Abstract Chains 01:02:58 Pudgy Penguins' relation with Abstract Chains 01:04:18 Closing & Disclaimers
------ RESOURCES
Luca Netz https://x.com/LucaNetz
Pudgy Penguins https://pudgypenguins.com/
------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
