Pudgy Penguins surges 64% in a week — What’s driving PENGU token rally?

PENGU, the Solana-based token associated with the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, has jumped 64% over the past week, climbing another 13% in the last 24 hours. 

Due to the recent rally, Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) is now one of the top weekly performers and has re-entered the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The token is still 77% below its December 2024 peak of $0.06845 despite the gains.

The recent surge follows growing interest in a proposed exchange-traded fund that would combine exposure to Pudgy Penguins NFTs and PENGU tokens. On June 25, the Cboe BZX Exchange filed a 19b-4 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list the Canary PENGU ETF.

The filing followed Canary Capital’s S-1 submission in March 2025. The ETF would allocate 80–95% of its holdings to PENGU tokens and 5–15% to Pudgy Penguins NFTs, according to the proposal.

To enable network transactions, a tiny amount of Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) would be retained. This hybrid structure has attracted attention as a possible gateway for institutional exposure to risk-on, community-driven digital assets.

News of the filing led to significant whale activity culminating into the recent price rally. The excitement has also lifted sentiment in the NFT market. The Pudgy Penguins floor price is currently 9.65 ETH, up 2.7% over the past seven days, according to NFT Floor Price data. The collection’s total market cap stands at $209 million.

From a technical perspective, PENGU’s breakout has pushed it through resistance levels with rising volume. At 72.89, the relative strength index is high, indicating overbought conditions. PENGU is trading above all of the major moving averages, such as the 20-day SMA at $0.0108 and the 10-day EMA at $0.01294, indicating sustained short-term strength.

The $0.02 mark might be the next area of interest if the current momentum holds. On the other hand, the price might retreat toward support in the $0.012 range if buying pressure slows. Although traders seem cautious as the market awaits clarity on the ETF’s approval path, the short-term outlook is still positive.