Spritehood has offered 42,956 paid NFTs on Robinhood Chain in about 53 minutes, producing practically $1.28 million for Pudgy Penguins co-founder Cole Villemain.
Spritehood $NFT sale reached $1.28 million
The Defiant reported that Villemain launched Spritehood on Aug. 11 after beforehand being faraway from the founding staff of Pudgy Penguins, with the paid portion of the sale promoting out in lower than one hour.
On-chain analyst 0xlaplaced calculated that the mint generated about $1.2829 million, or roughly 684.28 $ETH, primarily based on the value of Ether through the sale. The ultimate whole got here in effectively above an earlier estimate of roughly $755,000 that circulated earlier than the mint had completed.
In keeping with the analyst’s transaction assessment, patrons minted 37,430 NFTs for $17 every, producing $636,310 in proceeds. A second group of 5,526 NFTs offered for $117 every, including one other $646,542.
Mixed, the 2 paid tiers generated $1,282,852 from 42,956 tokens. The deploying deal with had already distributed 1,488 NFTs at no cost by means of 20 zero-price transactions earlier than the general public sale, taking the total reported provide to 44,444 objects.
Though the obtainable figures present what number of tokens moved at every worth, the equipped report didn’t establish what decided whether or not a purchaser paid $17 or $117. It additionally didn’t present particulars about any advantages, future entry, or different options connected to the gathering.
Unverified code limits assessment of Spritehood’s mint
Spritehood’s contract seems with an “unverified” label on Robinhood Chain’s Blockscout explorer, in accordance with The Defiant. An unverified contract can nonetheless function and file transactions on-chain, however its human-readable supply code has not been matched publicly with the deployed bytecode by means of the explorer.
With out that verification, patrons can’t use Blockscout to examine the entire supply code governing Spritehood’s pricing and distribution course of. The label doesn’t set up that the contract is malicious or defective, although it reduces the data obtainable for unbiased assessment by means of the explorer.
The reported mint figures as a substitute come from an evaluation of accomplished blockchain transactions. Since each paid tier may be calculated individually, the on-chain totals clarify why the ultimate proceeds exceeded the determine shared whereas the sale was nonetheless underway.
No info within the equipped report signifies that Robinhood organized, promoted or endorsed the Spritehood launch. Robinhood describes its community as a permissionless Ethereum Layer 2, which means unbiased builders can deploy purposes and tokens with out every mission representing an official Robinhood product.
Robinhood Chain has attracted speculative property
Spritehood arrived about six weeks after Robinhood opened its Layer 2 community to the general public. As crypto.information reported in July, Robinhood Chain launched as an Arbitrum-based Ethereum scaling community designed for tokenized shares and decentralized finance purposes.
The mainnet debuted with integrations involving infrastructure suppliers, together with Alchemy, BitGo, and Chainlink. Robinhood additionally launched Inventory Tokens for eligible customers exterior america, whereas decentralized exchanges and lending purposes equipped on-chain buying and selling capabilities.
Regardless of its acknowledged give attention to monetary property, permissionless deployment has allowed unrelated tokens and speculative initiatives to enter the community. A July community assessment discovered that memecoin buying and selling had turn into a serious supply of early exercise, regardless that Robinhood constructed the chain round tokenized equities and real-world property.
The community’s early exercise additionally produced a niche between buying and selling quantity and obtainable liquidity. One other July evaluation discovered $570 million in launch-week buying and selling quantity in opposition to $21.68 million in liquidity, with incentive-backed decentralized finance deposits and speculative tokens driving a lot of the exercise.
Newer figures cited by Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee positioned Robinhood Chain’s cumulative decentralized trade quantity close to $9 billion. Lee mentioned the chain may expose Robinhood’s 27 million prospects to Ethereum-based companies, though the determine represented the corporate’s funded buyer base relatively than confirmed customers of the blockchain.
$ETH capabilities as Robinhood Chain’s native gasoline token, whereas community transactions settle by means of Ethereum. Consumers due to this fact want $ETH to pay transaction charges when instantly utilizing purposes deployed on the chain, together with $NFT contracts equivalent to Spritehood.
Pudgy Penguins historical past follows Villemain’s new mint
Villemain, additionally identified on-line as ColeThereum, helped create Pudgy Penguins with three different founders in 2021. The unique assortment contained 8,888 penguin profile-picture NFTs and offered out shortly after launch.
An earlier Pudgy Penguins historical past printed by crypto.information mentioned the preliminary mint priced the NFTs at about $90 every and generated greater than $800,000. The gathering later turned one of the vital acknowledged initiatives from the $NFT market’s 2021 growth.
Pudgy Penguins holders voted Villemain out of the founding staff in January 2022. The elimination adopted neighborhood allegations that he had misused mission funds and did not ship on elements of the mission’s roadmap.
The claims remained allegations, and the equipped report mentioned Villemain was not prosecuted over them. Entrepreneur Luca Netz later acquired management of the Pudgy Penguins model in April 2022 for 750 $ETH, taking on its management after the unique staff’s elimination.
Below its new possession, the mission expanded past blockchain collectibles into bodily toys, licensing offers, and the PENGU token. Pudgy Penguins has additionally continued to register intervals of excessive secondary-market exercise, together with a 247% weekly gross sales improve to $9.3 million in July 2025.
What the Spritehood sale means for US patrons
Robinhood is a U.S.-listed brokerage, however use of its public blockchain doesn’t imply an $NFT carries Robinhood’s approval or the protections connected to a brokerage account. The corporate’s official disclosures describe Robinhood Chain as a permissionless and separate blockchain from its regulated monetary companies.
For U.S. patrons, the tax therapy of $NFT purchases additionally differs from shopping for property inside a regular brokerage account. The Inner Income Service treats digital property as property, and its steering requires taxpayers to report taxable beneficial properties or losses when cryptocurrency is offered, exchanged or used to amass property, together with an $NFT.
Paying for a Spritehood $NFT with $ETH might due to this fact create a taxable disposal for a U.S. purchaser if the Ether modified in worth between acquisition and use. Any later sale of the $NFT might produce one other reportable acquire or loss primarily based on the distinction between its value foundation and sale proceeds.
Federal securities therapy will depend on the financial details surrounding an providing relatively than the $NFT label alone. In 2023, the Securities and Trade Fee charged Influence Idea over an $NFT providing that raised about $30 million, whereas Stoner Cats 2 agreed to settle costs tied to an $8 million $NFT sale.
Neither the equipped report nor the cited on-chain assessment mentioned a U.S. regulator had examined Spritehood or alleged that its NFTs have been securities. The report additionally didn’t establish any passive-income rights, revenue-sharing phrases, or guarantees of returns connected to the gathering.
