Pokemon card sales are increasing on cryptocurrency platforms, but don’t call it gambling

Somewhere in Montana, a collection of Pokemon cards is sitting behind closed doors, anchoring a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency market inside a 28,000 square foot facility.

CEO Tom Holmberg said Decryption Since the Collector Crypt debuted 18 months ago, the company’s vault facility has become the core of its brand, amid a growing number of competitors who are also offering tokenized versions of the popular playing cards.

“Of those 30 other platforms that followed us, probably half of them keep stock in their vaults,” he said, referring to a series of companies that have debuted in response to growing demand for names like Pikachu, Charizard and Gengar.

The global trading card market rose to $15.8 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $23.5 billion by 2030, research firm Strategic Market Research said. estimated last year. As of Friday, the global market capitalization of NFTs It amounted to $2.4 billion, according to NFT price floor.

NFTs brought in billions during the pandemic-era cryptocurrency boom, and while demand for digital art and profile photos has waned since then, the technology has resurfaced as a key building block in fueling the atmosphere of speculation sweeping through trading cards.

Holmberg noted that regardless of efficiency, the technology still invites scrutiny.

“Our biggest challenge is getting into the card show,” he said. “You say, ‘Hey, we’re behind all these tokens on Solana,’ and 90% of people will say, ‘This is a scam.’ This is a scam. “It’s deception.”

However, the company’s marketing leaned into a speculative fervor that helped influencer and wrestler Logan Paul. bring $16.5 million for a rare Pokemon card at an auction in February.

Recent video subscriber by SolanaX’s official X account highlighted the platform’s gacha machine, asking: “Can you spin for a $15,000 Pokemon card?” — a mechanism that Holmberg said mirrors the traditional block copying experience by randomly issuing card-backed NFTs.

gold rush gacha

said Dominic Jang, co-founder and CEO of Deadstock, another platform that offers token Pokemon cards Decryption Digital packs and gacha machines cater to speculators and collectors alike, who crave either the “instant rush in” or the card itself.

“What’s really new is that withdrawals now come with instant liquidity,” he said. “Gacha and mystery packs feel like a sales mechanic, (…) but they’re quietly on the ramp.”

Courtyard, which also specializes in NFTs tied to physical collectibles, announced this month that it has expanded the format to include ancient U.S. coins. The platform also offers digital packs for other types of cards, as well as digital twins of luxury watches and comic books.

according to Data From research firm Messari, the top seven Pokémon avatar platforms generated $230 million in sales across gacha games in May. That’s up from $32 million a year ago, when Collector Crypt and Courtyard were the main players.

said Messari analyst alias AvgJoesCrypto Decryption The tenfold jump is due to friction. While buyers on eBay face the risk of counterfeiting despite refund policies, platforms like Collector Crypt simplify ownership by enabling asset disclosure with just a few clicks.

“We’re starting to see the snowball effect of something product-market fit,” he said. “Blockchain rails are just a better way to trade these assets once they are tokenized.”

The sales volume, of course, covers users who repeatedly try their luck. Collector Crypt offers instant buybacks at a 10% to 15% discount compared to market prices. Last month, the company announced that it had facilitated a total of $1 billion in sales over its 18 months of existence.

“These are all our gacha machines,” Holmberg said, noting that they drive 90% to 95% of their business.

Although he acknowledged that the service was limited to gambling, he framed it as a gamified shopping experience driven by the “positive expected value” of the device, with users who bet $50 receiving $55 on average. “You should be able to go in and open five to 10 packs, get the card you want to keep, and basically pay the market price,” he added.

Collector Crypt has made other efforts to ensure a positive experience for consumers, beyond its own platform. When it comes to protecting Pokémon cards in Montana, Holmberg said some of the company’s competitors have taken advantage of its facilities for liquidity and trust.

“They deliver liquidity directly to our trading card liquidity pool which is stored in our vaults,” Holmberg said. “If people outside of the crypto space really start to embrace this concept, (…) you can imagine that if one of these platforms was affected, you would see Reddit posts all day long.”