Pudgy Penguins "bypasses" the crypto advertising ban with physical merchandise, investing $6 million in a Las Vegas sphere show.

I have to say, Pudgy Penguins’ move this time is really quite clever.

During Christmas 2025, this NFT celebrity IP filled the Las Vegas Sphere with its cartoon penguin characters and held a seven-day packaging showcase. At first glance, it seems like an ordinary holiday show, but the underlying business logic is worth pondering—Pudgy Penguins deliberately avoided any promotion of cryptocurrencies, only pushing toys, animations, and merchandise, cleverly bypassing the venue’s strict restrictions on crypto advertising.

Why do this? How strict are the “red lines” for crypto ads?

Las Vegas Sphere is very strict about cryptocurrency advertising. According to venue regulations, any promotion involving NFTs, meme coins, or non-exchange crypto projects is prohibited, with only exchange and Bitcoin-related ads allowed.

Vedant Mangaldas, co-founder of Pudgy Penguins, frankly stated in an interview: “This event is purely to celebrate our physical product line, it has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies.” This statement seems simple but actually reflects a larger trend—crypto-native brands are actively shedding the “crypto” label and shifting toward mainstream consumer markets.

How big is this investment? What are the returns?

It is reported that the seven-day showcase cost up to $6 million, covering customized animations, external projections, and all associated costs. This figure may seem staggering at first glance, but it makes sense within Pudgy Penguins’ business landscape.

Brand data shows:

• Toy sales have reached $10 million (as of February 2024)
• Instagram followers number 2 million, with about 90% unaware of its crypto origins
• The GIF library has accumulated billions of views, mostly from non-crypto users

In other words, Pudgy Penguins has successfully transformed from an NFT PFP project into a mainstream IP that crosses the crypto circle. The sphere show each cycle lasts only 1 minute, but that 1 minute is enough to trigger viral spread on social media—purely amplifying brand value.

Comparison with the failed case of Dogwifhat

Similarly, a project from the Solana camp, Dogwifhat (WIF), presents a stark contrast.

In January 2025, the Dogwifhat community raised $7 million to advertise meme coins on the Sphere, but it was directly rejected by the venue, with a full refund issued. The Sphere explicitly stated that this involved “abusing the venue’s name to commit fraud.”

In contrast, Pudgy Penguins’ strategy appears quite sophisticated—it didn’t insist on advertising within the crypto space but instead made the physical products the focus, using innocent cartoon penguins and festive atmosphere to numb the audience. In fact, visitors to the Sphere show wouldn’t even associate it with a crypto project behind the scenes.

What does this imply?

Pudgy Penguins’ approach signals an important message: The future of crypto projects is not about frantically pushing tokens, but about building tangible, real-world business systems.

When you have $10 million in toy sales, 2 million social media followers, and a continuous stream of merchandise sales, blockchain identity becomes a secondary concern. Conversely, it also serves as a reminder to projects hoping to get rich quick with crypto concepts—the walls of regulation and policy will only get higher, and compliance has become a mandatory course for big brands.

This Las Vegas show, rather than being just an advertising campaign, is more like a demonstration of Pudgy Penguins’ confidence in its business model.