The Daily: Pudgy Penguins' PENGU token goes live, LastPass exploiters drain millions of dollars in crypto and more

Happy Tuesday! In today's newsletter, Pudgy Penguins' PENGU token goes live, LastPass exploiters drain millions of dollars in crypto, Lido begins phasing out its Polygon staking service and more.

Meanwhile, "Praise the Lord," Sen. Tim Scott reacted as crypto-skeptic SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw's renomination vote was scrapped.

Let's get started.

Pudgy Penguins launches PENGU token on Solana

Popular non-fungible token project Pudgy Penguins has launched its PENGU token , with eligible participants given just 88 days to claim before their allocations are burned and effectively removed from the supply.

• Claims went live on Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET for holders of Pudgy Penguin ecosystem NFTs, Luca Netz, CEO of Igloo, the company behind the project, confirmed on X. Trading on centralized crypto exchanges followed.
• Holders of Pudgy Toys, physical plushies inspired by the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, available at Walmart and Target stores and online, are also eligible for PENGU tokens at a later date.
• In addition to the Pudgy Penguins community, approximately 7 million wallets are eligible to claim PENGU tokens, including users who interacted with various protocols and members of different communities.
• The token, launched on the Solana network, has a total supply of 88.88 billion. In the future, it plans to integrate with Ethereum and Igloo's Layer 2 Abstract Chain.
• PENGU tokenomics allocates 25.9% to the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem and 24.1% to other communities, with structured vesting for the remaining team and company tokens.
• Just two hours after launch, the token rocketed to a fully diluted valuation of over $3.5 billion and garnered more than $290 million worth of trading volume.
• However, one unlucky trader burned $10,000 worth of SOL trying to trade the PENGU token before it was officially airdropped.
• Launched in 2021, Pudgy Penguins has become one of the most popular NFT collections in the space, recently surpassing Bored Ape Yacht Club to become the second-largest by market cap behind CryptoPunks.

LastPass exploiters drain millions of dollars in crypto

ZachXBT said Tuesday that attackers linked to the 2022 LastPass breach had stolen another $5.4 million in crypto from over 40 wallets, later updated to $12.4 million from over 100 victim addresses.

• "Stolen funds were swapped for ETH and transferred to various instant exchanges from Ethereum to Bitcoin," the blockchain sleuth wrote on Telegram.
• This is the third major crypto hack tied to the LastPass breach, following $4.4 million stolen in October 2023 and $6.2 million this February.
• ZachXBT urged anyone who ever stored seed phrases or keys in LastPass to migrate their crypto assets immediately.

Lido begins phasing out staking service for Polygon PoS chain

Leading liquid staking protocol Lido is shutting down its Polygon PoS staking services following a community-approved vote due to limited user adoption, low rewards and resource-heavy maintenance.

• Its implementation on the Polygon PoS network allowed users to stake Polygon's MATIC tokens (rebranded to POL) for liquid staking tokens called stMATIC.
• Users can withdraw funds until June 16, 2025, after which they will only be available via explorer tools, the project said.
• The move follows Lido DAO's vote to discontinue its Solana staking service for similar reasons last year amid LDO governance token holders' shift of focus toward Ethereum.

Ethereum ETF staking yields could drive institutional adoption if regulatory barriers ease under Trump

Analysts at firms including Bernstein and CryptoQuant suggest the incoming Trump administration could ease regulations, enabling Ethereum staking in spot ETF products and attracting institutional investors through clearer frameworks.

• Potential staking yields of 4-5% amid declining interest rates and increased blockchain activity could drive significant inflows into Ethereum ETFs, making ether more appealing for long-term holding, they said.
• However, experts caution that institutional adoption may depend on consistent reward structures, regulatory clarity and mitigation of ether volatility risks.
• Current U.S. Ethereum ETFs lack staking due to the SEC's prior approval requirements, putting them at a disadvantage compared to markets like Switzerland and Canada, where staking is approved.

Tether invests in StablR to promote stablecoin adoption in Europe

Tether has invested in European stablecoin issuer StablR , aiming to boost adoption in Europe ahead of the EU's MiCA regulation taking full effect on Dec. 30.

• StablR's MiCA-compliant EURR and USDR stablecoins will integrate with Tether's tokenization platform Hadron, to expand across additional blockchain networks beyond Ethereum and Solana.
• Tether remains keen to capitalize on Europe's growing stablecoin niche, which nears $400 million for euro-pegged assets — though still a small fraction of the $200 billion U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin market.

In the next 24 hours

• UK and Eurozone CPI inflation figures are released at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET, respectively, on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision follows at 2 p.m.
• The FOMC's press conference is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

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