Pokémon trading cards could be the next major real‑world asset to move onchain, potentially bringing a market valued at $21.4 billion into crypto infrastructure.
Bitwise analyst sees rising trend
Bitwise research analyst Danny Nelson said Thursday that trading cards like Pokémon could have their “Polymarket moment,” comparing potential adoption to how prediction markets broke into the mainstream.
“I expect the Pokémon boom will be sticky — one of those moments where an ‘only in crypto’ innovation breaks into the mainstream,” Nelson noted.
Real‑world asset tokenization has expanded into a $28.2 billion market in 2025, though most of the activity remains tied to traditional finance products such as stocks, treasuries, commodities, private credit, and real estate. Nelson argued those assets already have efficient rails, while collectibles like Pokémon cards remain physical and manual, requiring shipping to buyers.
We're proud to have worked with the legends over at @Collector_Crypt.
— Metaplex 🦾 (@metaplex) September 4, 2025
Not only was the $CARDS launch powered by Genesis, but every tokenized card in their Pokémon ecosystem is powered by Metaplex NFTs.
Accelerate onchain collectibles with Collector Crypt, powered by Metaplex. pic.twitter.com/ovrJ8nl6ec
Possible future products
Despite inefficiencies, the space is large: The marketplace Whatnot processed $3 billion in card sales last year. Nelson said Pokémon remains largely informal, with little institutional infrastructure:
“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.”
Pokémon cards, along with games like Magic: The Gathering, have been traded for decades, long predating NFTs.
Collector Crypt enters the scene
A platform called Collector Crypt has emerged as an early player in on-chain card sales via Solana, enabling digital trading backed by real collectibles. Its token CARDS has increased ten‑fold since launching last Saturday, reaching a fully diluted value of $450 million, Nelson observed.
He said traders are “rushing to price in revenue‑generating potential,” with the project signaling an annualized revenue of $38 million. Attention has also turned to Collector Crypt’s Gacha Machine experiment, which generated $16.6 million in revenue over the last week.
Pockemon Cards Supercycle?$CARDS https://t.co/qcKe4BtPMH
— HodlFM Team (@Hodl_fm) September 4, 2025
NFT trading activity rises
The interest in tokenized collectibles comes as NFT volumes have picked up. According to DappRadar, NFT market volume rose 9% in August to $578 million, the highest monthly tally since January. However, overall sales counts fell 4%, suggesting higher values per trade even as fewer assets changed hands.
Roman Zaika
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