Trading Card Games (TCG) are experiencing significant growth in the digital assets space, with tokenized Pokémon TCG volumes surging by 5.5 times from January, reaching $124.5 million. Marketplaces such as Courtyard and Collector Crypt, where these cards are primarily traded, have witnessed a significant growth in trading volume, amassing $78.4 million and $44 million in August, respectively.
Noted by Messari’s Research Manager Average Joe on X, this move reflects a booming intersection of blockchain and collectibles markets, driving growth in trading of digital collectibles.
In August, Courtyard generated $78.43 million worth of secondary sales volume on Pokémon NFTs, its best month on record, according to a Dune dashboard. Meanwhile, Phygitals saw its volumes soar 245% to $2 million, signaling the rapid adoption of tokenized assets across diverse platforms.
“Most of crypto’s real world asset (RWA) plays are in well-known TradFi markets like stocks, gold, real estate, and treasuries. [ ]… but it doesn’t change them at their core. Pokémon cards are different,” said Danny Nelson, a Research Analyst at Bitwise. “They’ve already got a multi-billion dollar market, and yet, this market operates almost exclusively IRL.”
Collector Crypt’s CARDS Token Surges 600%
CoinGecko data indicates that Collector Crypt’s CARDS token surged over 600% in the past seven days, fueled by record breaking surge in its volume and increasing transactions. It is indicative of how blockchain-based platforms enhance liquidity with lower fees, challenging traditional TCG marketplaces like eBay.
There are currently more than 18,000 Pokémon cards listed on Collector Crypt’s website. The platform tokenizes the physical Pokémon cards, giving users an open market for trading cards, a gacha vending machine, and a buyback system that lets them get their cards back right away at a market discount.
“Collector Crypt is catching buzz this week for its tokenized Pokémon card marketplace. Basically, you can buy and sell digital versions of Charizard & Co in an instant, or deposit your collection to create NFTs for quick trading. It’s not a new idea but it has a rare attribute: exit velocity,” Danny said.
The platform is similar to NBA Top Shot in some ways, but instead of NFT cards, it uses real Pokémon cards that are worth something outside of the native marketplace. The gacha vending machine is a different way to open card packs, and it reuses cards that the platform already owns.
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