Pokémon cards for $2,500: How collectibles became a new form of gambling

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Pokémon cards for $2,500

How Pokémon cards became a multi-million-dollar crypto business

According to Blockworks, users spent more than $324 million on tokenized collectibles sold through random distribution mechanics in June alone. One year earlier, the figure stood at roughly $50 million.

The onchain gacha market in June 2026. Source: Blockworks.

The primary beneficiary of the boom was Collector Crypt, which accounted for nearly 65% of the entire market volume. Users spent more than $209 million on the platform during June, while approximately $83 million came from sales of a new Pokémon card collection priced at $2,500, launched less than a month before the report's publication.

The mechanics behind such platforms are straightforward. Users purchase a virtual card pack without knowing which specific card they will receive.

After opening the pack, they receive an NFT backed by a physical collectible card stored in a secure vault. They can keep it in their collection, sell it on a marketplace, redeem it for cash, or request physical delivery.

Interestingly, a significant portion of users actually claim their physical cards. Market participants report that thousands of tokenized collectibles are shipped to their owners every month, while others prefer to hold them as long-term collectibles.

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The segment's popularity is not driven by tokenization alone. Pokémon itself is currently experiencing one of the most successful periods in its history. Since 2025, the brand has become the leader of the U.S. toy market. Demand for collectible cards has grown so rapidly that grading company PSA temporarily suspended new submissions after accumulating a backlog of more than 10 million cards.

Tokenization has simply been layered on top of an already multi-billion-dollar collectibles market. In essence, blockchain has addressed two of its biggest limitations: low liquidity and complex transaction processes. Selling a rare card previously could take weeks or even months. Today, it can effectively be completed as easily as a cryptocurrency transaction.

Where is the line between collecting and gambling?

As with tokenization itself, the success of these projects cannot be explained solely by Pokémon's popularity or the growth of the collectibles market. The purchasing mechanics play an equally important role and closely resemble modern gambling models.

Users know only the pack's price and the probability of receiving rare items. They purchase the product, open it within seconds, evaluate the cards they receive, and decide whether to keep or immediately sell them back to the platform.

If they are dissatisfied with the outcome, nothing prevents them from instantly purchasing another pack.

Prices of selected collectible cards. Source: PriceCharting.

This is why comparisons with video game loot boxes have become increasingly common. Users pay a fixed amount for a random reward while knowing the odds of obtaining the most valuable items.

Several countries have already attempted to classify loot boxes as gambling or subject them to gambling-related regulations.

There is, however, one important distinction between tokenized collectibles and traditional gambling.

Unlike betting products or digital loot boxes, users always receive a real-world asset with its own market value. Moreover, the collectible card industry operated on a similar random distribution model long before cryptocurrencies existed.

Blockchain has not fundamentally changed the mechanics of collecting—it has merely made them significantly faster and more convenient.

How sustainable is the market?

Record trading volumes do not necessarily guarantee that demand for tokenized collectibles will continue growing at the same pace. A significant share of activity remains concentrated among a small number of platforms and large buyers, while the success of individual collections depends on a steady supply of rare cards and users' willingness to continue purchasing randomized packs.

Another risk stems from the custody of physical assets. The value of the token ultimately depends on whether the underlying card is genuinely held in storage, properly authenticated, and available for redemption.

As a result, users rely not only on demand for collectible items but also on the reliability of the platform, its partners, and its authentication procedures.

The key question is whether this segment will remain a market for collectors or evolve into a highly liquid form of speculation. Blockchain has significantly simplified the purchase and resale of collectible cards, but it has also amplified their gambling-like characteristics.

The answer to that question will determine whether today's record volumes represent the beginning of a sustainable new market or merely another short-lived boom within the crypto industry.

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