Pokémon cards, often sold through informal deals and shipped between collectors, could be the next real-world assets to move to the blockchain in a meaningful way.
According to a post on X by Bitwise research analyst Danny Nelson, unlike traditional financial products, card markets still depend heavily on physical delivery, which could make them a better fit for on-chain upgrades.
Nelson pointed out that trading cards still face practical challenges. For example, if someone sells a rare Pokémon card, such as Charizard or Pikachu, they usually have to mail it, insure it, and wait for the buyer to receive it. That process is slow and often risky.
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Despite this, platforms like Whatnot handled around $3 billion worth of card sales last year, which showed strong demand in a market that still lacks formal investment products.
Nelson said:
There are no Pokémon ETFs or structured funds yet, but that may change sooner than expected.
New blockchain tools are already being tested. Collector Crypt, a recently launched tokenization platform built on Solana
$203.04
, allows users to trade Pokémon cards digitally. This removes the need for physical delivery and helps sellers enter and exit positions faster.
Nelson stated that the platform’s token, called CARDS, has reached a fully diluted valuation of around $450 million since its launch.
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