Pokémon Trading Cards on the Blockchain
Pokémon trading cards might be the next significant real-world asset to move to the blockchain at scale, potentially introducing a $21.4 billion market to this technology.
“Pokémon and other [trading card games] are about to have their ‘Polymarket moment,’” remarked Bitwise research analyst Danny Nelson on Thursday.
He added, “I expect the Pokémon boom will be sticky — one of those instances where an ‘only in crypto’ innovation breaks into the mainstream. It’s somewhat akin to what Polymarket did for prediction markets.”
The Current State of RWA Crypto Tokenization
RWA crypto tokenization has surged into a $28.2 billion market in 2025, predominantly catering to traditional finance (TradFi) assets such as stocks, treasuries, commodities, private credit, and real estate.
While this shift offers benefits like around-the-clock trading and possible cost savings, it does not fundamentally change these markets, as “good enough digital rails already exist,” according to Nelson.
However, he noted that Pokémon card trading stands to gain significantly from blockchain technology, emphasizing that sellers must still physically ship their Charizard, Pikachu, and Gardevoir cards to buyers.
Despite this inefficiency, the market leader Whatnot managed to facilitate $3 billion in sales last year. “This market remains largely informal. You don’t see Pokémon ETFs or investment funds, and you probably won’t for a while. But maybe not as long as you’d think,” he commented.
The Legacy of Trading Cards
Pokémon cards and other trading card games like Magic: The Gathering have existed for approximately three decades, long before the introduction of non-fungible tokens.
Nelson’s insights come as Collector Crypt recently launched as a tokenization platform for selling Pokémon cards on Solana, allowing for quick trades and lucrative exits.
The token that backs Collector Crypt, CARDS, has already increased tenfold to a fully diluted market volume of $450 million since its launch last Saturday, as Nelson pointed out.
“Traders are rushing to price in revenue-generating potential,” he stated, indicating that this signals an annualized revenue of $38 million. Much of the “early hype” appears to be focused on these yields possibly being utilized for token buybacks.
Demand and Market Trends
The Pokémon card trading craze has also spurred interest in Collector Crypt’s Gacha Machine project, which has generated $16.6 million in revenue over the past week.
In other news, NFT trading volumes experienced a 9% increase month-on-month, reaching $578 million in August, marking their highest total since January, according to crypto analytics platform DappRadar.
Despite the 9% rise in volume, the sale count dropped by 4%, indicating that “fewer assets traded hands, collectors are paying more per sale,” DappRadar reported.
