SOL Strategies and Pudgy Penguins Launch PENGU Validator on Solana Network
In a new development, SOL Strategies has announced a landmark partnership with Pudgy Penguins to launch a dedicated Solana validator. The announcement, made on February 26, 2025, established a relationship between the two companies to expand institutional-grade staking infrastructure across the Solana network.
SOL Strategies has consistently focused on building and investing in Solana’s validator ecosystem. The company’s validator program, which offers white-label infrastructure solutions, enables key partners to contribute to network security while earning staking rewards. The newest entrant into this program is Pudgy Penguins, a Web3-native brand best known for its viral NFT collection and a highly successful toy line sold in over 10,000 global retail stores. The newly launched PENGU Validator is now live. It offers secure, high-performance validation capabilities supporting the Solana blockchain and the expanding Pudgy Penguins ecosystem. Delegators to the validator can expect attractive returns. The current advertised APY ranges from 7% to 11%, depending on staking conditions and network performance. The validator can be accessed through the Phantom wallet interface. It allows users to stake their SOL tokens while supporting Pudgy Penguins’ institutional goals.
For Pudgy Penguins, this move is far more than a branding exercise. According to Luca Netz, the project’s CEO, launching a validator reflects their broader mission to contribute to ecosystems that prioritize simplicity, scalability, and user-friendliness. “This mentality is why we chose to partner with SOL Strategies,” Netz said. “Working alongside them allows us to build on Solana in a way that’s transparent and aligned with our community-first ethos.”
SOL Strategies’ Validator Acquisitions and Governance Push
This validator launch follows an aggressive expansion effort by SOL Strategies throughout March 2025. In its monthly operational update released on April 7, the company revealed the acquisition of three prominent Solana validators, including the highly regarded Laine validator and the analytics platform Stakewiz.com.
These acquisitions represent a massive investment of $24 million and have effectively doubled the company’s total SOL stake to more than 3.35 million SOL, valued at approximately $388 million at the time. As part of the deal, Laine founder Michael Hubbard joined SOL Strategies as Chief Strategy Officer, bringing his deep technical expertise and reputation to the Solana ecosystem. Hubbard is now leading the company’s push for institutional-grade infrastructure and strategic partnerships, including the new initiative with Pudgy Penguins. Operationally, SOL Strategies continues to deliver strong performance metrics. In March, the company reported a validator uptime of 99.955% and an average delegator APY of 7.41%, significantly above the network average. These figures bolster the company’s reputation as one of Solana’s top validator operators, making it a desirable partner for projects like Pudgy Penguins that seek institutional-grade infrastructure and reliability.
Pudgy Penguins ETF and Expanding Institutional Ambitions
While the validator collaboration is a key milestone, Pudgy Penguins has also been making headlines through financial innovation. On March 20, Canary Capital filed an S-1 registration with the U.S. SEC for an ETF investing directly in Pudgy Penguins NFTs and the $PENGU meme token.
If approved, the proposed ETF would be the first in the United States to hold NFTs directly. The fund aims to hold Pudgy Penguins NFTs, the $PENGU token, and transaction-related assets like Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH). With this hybrid approach, the ETF would offer investors diversified exposure to the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem in a single product, paving the way for broader institutional participation. Together, these developments show a future in which projects like Pudgy Penguins don’t just exist within the crypto world but actively shape its infrastructure and financial integration. For SOL Strategies, this validates its long-term bet on Solana and its mission to become a foundational player in the blockchain economy.