From a six-month runway in 2022 to a projected $50 million in 2025 revenue, Pudgy Penguins beat the NFT crash with a risky bet on toys. Just about three years ago, non-fungible token (NFT) brand Pudgy Penguins was nearing bankruptcy — now it’s projected to end the year with $50 million in revenue. CEO and owner Luca Schnetzler (better known as Luca Netz) built a fortune through Instagram before breaking into the toy industry. In the blockchain world, he was among the largest Pudgy Penguins holders, but like many in the community, he wasn’t happy with the collection’s price performance. In April 2022, the project was at an all-time low. He decided to strike, acquiring parent firm Igloo for $2.5 million in Ether (ETH). But soon, Netz had some hard choices to make. The Terra collapse in May 2022 sparked a prolonged bear market. NFT assets tanked in value, threatening to turn Netz’s acquisition into a failure. Read more
Dozens of people in Gaza gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, in an attack which drew widespread condemnations from across the world. Israel has been facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by its offensive since October 2023, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and experts already declaring its actions in Gaza as a “genocide”, which Tel Aviv rejects. Anas Al Sharif, aged 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who were killed in a “directed assault” on a tent opposite Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike. A sixth journalist, Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also killed in the airstrike, according to medics at Al Shifa Hospital. Mourners stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al Shifa hospital to pay ...
Romania's Finance Ministry raised RON866.5 million from banks on Monday (August 11), selling government paper in two auctions, at annual average yields of 7.25% and 7.35%, respectively.