Pudgy Penguins' token, PENGU, fell 14% in the past 24 hours, becoming one of the worst-performing tokens among the top 100 crypto assets on CoinMarketCap during the same period. This pullback occurred after a generally strong market in the previous week, with monthly unlocks and a weakening NFT sector considered the main sources of pressure.
712.4 million tokens will be unlocked this month.
This monthly unlock totals 712.4 million PENGU, estimated at approximately $6.25 million based on the price mentioned in the article. Of these, approximately 279.3 million were allocated to the company, and approximately 433.1 million were allocated to current and future team members.
Arkham on-chain data shows that team-related addresses have distributed approximately $3.4 million worth of tokens this week. This move exacerbated market concerns about selling pressure and became a significant factor contributing to the rapid price decline.
Selling transactions slightly outnumbered buying transactions.
Dune Analytics data shows that there were 19,865 sell transactions and 19,648 buy transactions related to PENGU. The difference isn't huge, but sellers still have a slight advantage. Looking at the number of addresses, there were 959 daily sellers, higher than the 804 daily buyers, indicating more participants in the sell-off.
This means that the market is not in a one-sided panic, but after the news of the unlocking was released, the newly added circulating tokens still put downward pressure on short-term prices.
NFT sentiment weakens in sync
The article also mentions that the recent weakness in NFT collectibles projects such as Bored Ape has dragged down PENGU's performance. Because Pudgy Penguins are closely linked to the digital collectibles sector, PENGU is more sensitive to changes in market risk appetite after related sentiment weakens.
Against this backdrop, the increased supply resulting from token unlocking, combined with the overall cooling of the NFT sector, amplified short-term volatility.
Prices fell back to the key range
The article points out that PENGU has broken below the uptrend line and fallen back to near the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level. The current price is close to around $0.008266, which is an important level to watch during this recent pullback.
However, the article also mentions that the fund flow indicator remains weak. If selling pressure continues, the price may further decline to around $0.007284 or even lower. Overall, PENGU's short-term performance still depends on the speed at which unlocked tokens are digested and whether the sentiment in the NFT sector can stabilize.
