PENGU is back in the spotlight — but this time, the buzz comes with a dose of caution. The meme-driven token is nudging up against a descending trendline just as U.S. regulators hit pause once again on a proposed Pudgy Penguins exchange-traded fund (ETF), keeping uncertainty in the air.
PENGU changed hands around $0.012 at the time of writing, up 0.2% in the past 24 hours. The weekly picture looks stronger, with gains of roughly 23% over the last seven days, though that bounce hasn’t erased broader weakness. On a 30-day basis, the token is still down 4.4%, trading between $0.009665 and $0.01363 over the past week.
Spot trading has cooled slightly, with daily volume near $209 million, down about 0.7% from the prior session. The derivatives market also shows traders stepping back. Futures volume slipped 11% to $315 million, while open interest eased 0.43% to $112 million, according to CoinGlass data — a sign that leverage is being reduced while traders wait for a clearer direction.
SEC delay keeps investors guessing
Market sentiment softened after a fresh regulatory setback. Late on January 7, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission postponed its decision on Canary Capital’s Pudgy Penguins ETF by 60 days, pushing the new deadline to March 11. The application, first filed in September 2025, has already gone through several extensions, with no firm answer yet from regulators.
Part of the holdup comes from the ETF’s unusual structure. The fund plans to list on the Cboe BZX Exchange and hold both physical Pudgy Penguins NFTs and PENGU tokens on Solana. That mix adds layers of complexity around pricing, custody, and regulatory treatment of NFTs — issues that fall outside most traditional crypto ETF reviews.
The market reaction was quick: after the delay, PENGU dropped about 6%, showing how closely its price remains tied to ETF headlines. The dip came even as the Pudgy Penguins brand continues capturing attention with initiatives like the “Year of the Penguin” campaign and a full visual takeover of the Las Vegas Sphere.
Price tests trendline as bulls and bears face off
Technically, PENGU is sitting at a decision point. A downward trendline drawn from the November highs near $0.038–$0.040 has repeatedly capped rallies, and price is once again pressing up against it. The token has moved back into the $0.0130–$0.0135 region, an area that has regularly attracted sellers and currently overlaps the 20-day moving average, making it an important near-term resistance zone.
Momentum indicators show mild improvement. The relative strength index (RSI) sits near 58, suggesting rising demand but not yet overbought levels. PENGU is trading in the upper half of its Bollinger Bands, with volatility still relatively compressed — a setup that often precedes a stronger breakout.
A daily close above $0.0135–$0.0140 would be the first convincing sign that downward pressure is easing. Until that happens, rallies may continue to fade against resistance. On the downside, $0.0120 remains the first major support. A breakdown below that level could open the door toward $0.0103, and potentially the broader swing low near $0.0071, which marks the cycle bottom.
For now, PENGU sits at a crossroads: improving momentum, heavy resistance overhead, and a regulatory clock ticking toward March.
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