Pokémon cards will soon have their ‘Polymarket moment’ — Bitwise

Pokémon trading cards could beryllium the adjacent real-world plus to determination onchain astatine scale, perchance bringing a $21.4 cardinal marketplace to the blockchain. 

“Pokémon and different [trading paper games] are astir to person their ‘Polymarket moment,’” said Bitwise probe expert Danny Nelson connected Thursday. 

“I expect the Pokémon roar volition beryllium sticky — 1 of those moments wherever an ‘only successful crypto’ innovation breaks into the mainstream. Kinda similar what Polymarket did for prediction markets.”

RWA crypto tokenization has boomed into a $28.2 cardinal marketplace successful 2025, but it is astir wholly catered to TradFi assets similar stocks, treasuries, commodities, backstage recognition and existent estate.

While this offers improved benefits specified arsenic 24/7 trading and imaginable outgo savings, it doesn’t alteration them arsenic “good capable integer rails already exist,” Nelson said.

However, Pokémon paper trading could payment acold much from the blockchain, Nelson said, noting that sellers inactive person to physically vessel their Charizard, Pikachu and Gardevoirs to buyers.

Source: Metaplex

Pokémon ETFs successful the future? Nelson said it’s possible

He noted that the inefficient solution inactive saw marketplace person Whatnot facilitate $3 cardinal successful income past year. “This marketplace remains mostly informal. You don’t spot Pokémon ETFs oregon concern funds, and you astir apt won’t for a while. But possibly not arsenic agelong arsenic you’d think.”

Pokémon cards and different trading paper games similar Magic: The Gathering person been astir for astir 3 decades, agelong earlier non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were ever a concept.

A caller marketplace person is paving the way

Nelson’s comments travel arsenic Collector Crypt precocious emerged arsenic a tokenization platform for selling Pokémon cards connected Solana, enabling accelerated trades and profitable exits.

The token backing Collector Crypt, CARDS, has already risen 10-fold to a fully diluted volume of $450 cardinal since launching past Saturday, Nelson pointed out.

Related: CZ-owned Trust Wallet launches tokenized stocks and ETFs

“Traders are rushing to terms successful revenue-generating potential,” Nelson said, noting that it is signaling an annualized gross of $38 million. He added that overmuch of the “early hype” rests connected those yields perchance flowing backmost to token buybacks.

The Pokémon paper trading has besides driven request for Collector Crypt’s Gacha Machine project, which has taken successful $16.6 cardinal successful gross implicit the past week.

NFTs timepiece astir trading measurement since January

Meanwhile, NFT trading volumes roseate 9% month-on-month to $578 cardinal successful August, its largest tally since January, according to the crypto analytics level DappRadar, connected Thursday.

Despite the 9% rise, the merchantability number fell 4%, showing that “fewer assets traded hands, collectors are paying much per sale,” DappRadar said.

Magazine: Astrology could marque you a amended crypto trader: It has been foretold