Meme Coins With Utility? See How Dragoin Is Outshining Brett and Pudgy Penguins in 2025

Meme coins were never meant to be serious—until some of them started delivering real results. Projects like Pudgy Penguins and Brett have shown how viral appeal can translate into market value, community growth, and mainstream traction. Pudgy Penguins blended NFT culture with physical products, while Brett capitalized on meme-driven hype for quick market gains.

However, a new player, Dragoin, is shifting the conversation. By embedding real-world utility—staking, governance, gaming, and planned partnerships—Dragoin challenges the notion that meme coins are all fluff and no function. As interest in meme coins with utility rises, Dragoin may represent a turning point for the genre.

Pudgy Penguins: From NFTs to Mainstream Recognition

Launched in 2021, Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 unique NFT avatars that quickly became a significant player in the NFT space. Then, in April 2022, entrepreneur Luca Netz acquired the project for 750 ETH, aiming to transform it into a leading Web3 brand. Since then, under his leadership, Pudgy Penguins expanded beyond digital art, securing partnerships with major retailers like Walmart and Target to sell physical merchandise inspired by the NFTs. As a result, this strategy introduced over 500,000 people to their first NFT through these physical products.

Later, in December 2024, the project launched its native token, $PENGU, on the Solana blockchain with a total supply of 88.88 billion tokens. Approximately 25.9% of these tokens were distributed to the Pudgy Penguins community via airdrops. By comparison, by January 2025, $PENGU’s price had surged by 760% since its launch, trading at $0.0431 and achieving a market capitalization of $2.7 billion.

Moreover, the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection experienced a 51.53% increase in sales volume, reaching $30 million during the same period. citeturn0search14 In addition, the project’s GIFs and stickers also garnered over 40 billion views on GIPHY, reflecting its growing cultural impact.

The Meteoric Rise of a Meme Coin

Brett ($BRETT) is a meme coin launched on the Base blockchain in February 2024, drawing inspiration from the “Boy’s Club” comic character. Shortly after launch, the token quickly gained traction, achieving a market capitalization of over $1 billion within three months. citeturn0search5 Its total supply is 10 billion tokens, with 85% allocated to liquidity pools, 10% to the treasury, and 5% to centralized exchanges.

However, BRETT’s price performance has been notably volatile. For example, after reaching an all-time high of $0.2342 in December 2024, the price declined by 84.6% over the following months. Currently, as of March 25, 2025, BRETT is trading at approximately $0.036, reflecting a 9.3% increase over the past week. Nevertheless, despite this volatility, early investors have seen substantial returns, with the token’s value increasing by over 4,100% since its all-time low in February 2024.

On the other hand, concerns have been raised about insider holdings, with reports indicating that insiders held over 81% of the supply at launch, leading to significant price fluctuations.

Dragoin is Transforming Meme Tokens Forever

Unlike Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, which gained fame largely through internet culture and speculative hype, Dragoin ($DDGN) is rewriting what it means to be a meme coin. Whereas DOGE and SHIB were launched without clear use cases or roadmaps, relying on celebrity mentions and market momentum, Dragoin has been built from day one with real utility and long-term value in mind.

Even so, at Stage 1 of its presale, Dragoin offers features that traditional meme coins still lack. It introduces staking mechanisms that allow holders to earn passive income, encouraging long-term holding rather than short-term flipping. Additionally, governance features let the community vote on key decisions, giving investors an actual say in the project’s direction. Combined with a play-to-earn gaming ecosystem and future brand partnerships, Dragoin becomes far more than just a meme—it’s a full-featured crypto ecosystem.

In contrast, Dogecoin still relies on a proof-of-work model with minimal development, and SHIB is only now trying to build out its Shibarium ecosystem. Dragoin, however, has launched with a utility embedded at its core. It’s designed not just to capture attention, but to hold it.

Therefore, for early investors, this means more than just hope and hype. It’s an opportunity to back a meme coin that can actually do something, and keep delivering over time. If DOGE and SHIB were jokes that somehow became valuable, Dragoin is a project built to create value from the start.

Redefining What Meme Coins Can Be

Pudgy Penguins and Brett have each taken different paths—one through NFTs and retail expansion, the other through meme culture and rapid growth. Both highlight the potential of meme coins to go beyond jokes and trend cycles.

Yet, Dragoin sets itself apart by grounding its identity in tangible features from the start. With staking, governance, gaming mechanics, and plans for partnerships already built into its foundation, it offers more than just viral appeal. As investors look for staying power over short-term noise, Dragoin shows that meme coins can carry substance, not just sentiment, into the future.