Coinbase sent shockwaves through crypto markets on Friday when it swapped its signature blue logo on X for a Pudgy Penguins NFT as its profile picture, accompanied by the playful caption, “new pfp, who dis.”

Within minutes, the native token of the penguin-themed ecosystem, PENGU, began to soar, climbing over 60% during the rally before settling into a correction. Despite the pullback, PENGU remains up more than 35% on the week.

The official Pudgy Penguins account quickly followed suit, adopting a matching ice-blue avatar. The synchronized move sparked speculation about a possible partnership between Coinbase and Igloo Inc., the company behind the Pudgy Penguins collection. Several other crypto-related firms—including VanEck, MoonPay, and AwakenTax—also joined in, changing their profile pictures to Pudgy Penguins.

The viral stunt helped push the floor price of Pudgy Penguin NFTs higher. After hovering around 9 ETH earlier this week, the floor price surged to 11.58 ETH, according to data from NFTPriceFloor. Trading volume for Pudgy Penguin NFTs spiked nearly 690% in the past 24 hours.

The profile picture change occurred during a brief takeover of Coinbase’s X account by pseudonymous Crypto Twitter figure AlexOnChain, who previously led social media efforts at Binance for four years.

Following the takeover, Coinbase announced that AlexOnChain would be joining the company as its first full-time “CT Lead.”

“The new focus is making comms more social native—direct, transparent, and engaging,” Alex shared in a post. “That’s the path to building greater appreciation for everything they’ve contributed to this space (which is a lot), and to help reconnect with ct. It’s a big job, it won’t be easy, and that’s why I took it.”

Adding further fuel to the excitement around PENGU, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledged Canary Capital’s filing for a spot PENGU ETF.