Published Sep 26, 2023
Bridging the gap between the digital and physical is key to Web3’s mass adoption. By utilizing blockchain technology to build immersive, interactive experiences, brands can bring the power of Web3 to a billion users in a way that is easy to onboard, fun, and accessible.
Starting today, popular Web3 brand Pudgy Penguins is going mainstream with the release of its Pudgy Toys at 2,000+ Walmart stores across the U.S., connecting ZKsync's cutting-edge zero-knowledge blockchain technology and the broader Web3 community with America’s largest retailer.
Pudgy Toys sold at Walmart serve as a gateway to Pudgy World, an open-world digital player experience. zkSync Era and Ethereum were chosen as Pudgy World’s foundational technology to enable an immersive user experience, lightning-fast speeds, and affordability while prioritizing the foundational principles of the ZK Credo.
Pudgy Penguins—with $400 million in digital collectible sales and 10 billion+ views across social channels—has forged a unique path since its 2021 launch. Embodying the qualities of love, empathy, and compassion, each of its 8,888 PFP NFTs provides holders with exclusive access to perks including experiences and community events. It’s also one of the first NFT projects to offer major licensing opportunities to its holders.
Each Pudgy Toy comes with a unique birth certificate that has a scannable QR code which grants access to Pudgy World. Users can sign up using an existing crypto wallet or email address, creating a smooth integration of the physical collectibles and their digital counterparts. Once inside Pudgy World, users can customize their unique Forever Pudgy Penguin characters and redeem traits, which are all NFTs stored in users’ wallets.
Walmart will carry 26 different Pudgy Toys including Plush Buddies, Clip-on Plushes, Igloo Collectibles, and Action Figures. The retailer will also exclusively carry mystery Igloos that contain Ice Chrome and Gold Chrome collectible figures, as well as a Blind Box with a surprise Clip-on Plush inside. Consumers will also have the chance to find a golden ticket for access to rare traits inside Pudgy World. The physical collectibles range in price from $7.99 to $24.99.
From purchasing a physical toy to exploring a blockchain-based digital world, each step has been carefully curated to create a rich UX. The result is a highly customizable open-world game that enables easy onboarding into the Web3 ecosystem through art, play, and community.
The NFT space is grappling with changing attitudes toward royalty payments, raising questions about how to make the space lucrative for creators and collectors. Some NFT projects, including Pudgy Penguins, have expanded intellectual property rights to allow holders to create commercial products using the images of characters they own.
Pudgy Toys is the first mass-market NFT intellectual property (IP) product licensed directly from its community. This means that all Pudgy Penguin toys are linked to existing NFT characters, and holders of those characters will receive licensing royalties for every toy sold at Walmart in perpetuity. This creates a major opportunity for NFT holders to have their IP reach massive audiences while sharing in the value-creation process.
Developer interest in Web3 remains high, with millions of smart contracts continuing to be deployed across the Ethereum ecosystem on chains like zkSync Era. In particular, more efforts are being made to bring blockchain technology mainstream and to create interoperable experiences across chains and brands leveraging hyperchains and hyperbridges via ZK Stack.
Pudgy Penguins is not only creating a blueprint for other brands on how to bring blockchain-based IP mainstream, it is also uplifting the entire Web3 ecosystem. The Pudgy Toy designs sold at Walmart have incorporated unique traits from some of the most popular NFT collections, including DeGods, Meebits, Coolcats, y00ts, and others, allowing existing NFT holders to receive licensing royalties for each corresponding toy at Walmart. This also provides consumers with an introduction to other NFT collections and breaks down barriers that separate projects from one another.
By utilizing the community-driven IP and translating it into real-world spaces, Pudgy Penguins is creating a pathway between analog and digital. This allows new consumers to experience Web3 without complicated jargon and intimidating onboarding that can hinder ecosystem growth, while also providing existing NFT holders with long-term value along the way.
The ZKsync team is excited to share details of the Atlas upgrade for the ZK Stack, which provides a major step forward towards the vision of a network of sovereign chains, secured by cryptography and powering the global economy.
