Source: Bankless
Compiled by: Jinse Finance
Pokémon cards on a blockchain. At first glance, the idea might seem a bit strange. However, upon closer inspection, the intersection makes perfect sense.
As Bitwise’s Danny Nelson recently highlighted, Pokémon trading cards are a multi-billion dollar market that, at least until now, has been off-chain, informal, inefficient, and so on.
In contrast, card tokenization platforms offer a variety of new advantages, such as 24/7 global liquidity, instant resale, DeFi composability, transparent provenance, vault services, and more.
These benefits are also starting to catch on. Last month, top card tokenization platforms saw over $120 million in trading volume, primarily through digital pack ripping, secondary trading, and Gacha games.
Despite this, there are already several mature projects in this field, and the number of emerging projects is constantly increasing.
Courtyard
Courtyard, which has been operating on the Polygon platform for over two years, pioneered the use of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) based on physical assets, a popular approach among tokenized card platforms. Pokémon cards are Courtyard's main draw, particularly through its pack vending machines, but it also stands out for its support for sports cards and comic book collectibles. With nearly $80 million in trading volume last month, Courtyard currently leads the market. As for KYC, there are no additional requirements beyond redeeming and shipping cards, but your data is deleted after 90 days and Courtyard never sees it.
Collector Crypt
However, the next biggest challenger, Collector Crypt, is catching up. Built on Solana, the platform saw $44 million in trading volume last month, solely through its marketplace of Pokémon cards and Gacha Machines. Besides this exclusivity, it also differs from Courtyard in that it has a native token, CARDS, which has seen its market capitalization surge to $85 million since its launch less than a week ago. It's important to note that the platform requires personal information to withdraw funds (e.g., name, address, last four digits of your Social Security number, etc.), so proceed with caution and don't deposit anything you wouldn't be comfortable signing for.
Phygitals
Another new project making progress on Solana is Phygitals. You don't need to deposit anything here, as you can just bring your own wallet (such as Phantom) to trade in the Marketplace. Like Courtyard, KYC information is only required when redeeming cards. The platform saw $2 million in trading volume in August, a 245% increase month-over-month, so it's starting to trend upward. In addition to the card store, Phygitals also has a neat claw machine where you can buy random Pokémon packs, with prices ranging from $1 to $500. A new auction system is also in the works, allowing users to bid on premium cards.
Emporium
Another notable platform on Solana is Emporium. Like Phygitals, it uses Privy to create accounts, so you can log in with your email or Google account. Similarly, you don't have to deposit money here, as you can connect your own wallet. Of the projects I've mentioned so far, I found Emporium's vending machine to have the smoothest card opening user experience in terms of speed and convenience of buying and selling. It allows you to purchase random PSA level 10 Pokémon cards for 60 USDC each, and if you don't like the card you draw, you can immediately sell it for 85% of its market value. As for redemption, you simply provide your address and pay for shipping (up to 10 cards, $25).
Currently, the aforementioned platforms are the most well-known in the tokenized card space, but their application is rapidly expanding. Other emerging projects worth noting include:
RIP.FUN
Built on Base, RIP is currently in closed beta, so you'll need an invitation to get started. It aims to be a hub for Pokémon cards on-chain, allowing you to open mystery packs, redeem cards, trade, track sets, and more. It also features an experience point system that can be used to unlock additional rewards like special collectibles.
Grailed
Built on Solana, Grailed is another tokenized Pokémon card trading platform where you can buy used cards or open packs digitally. Unlike the other projects mentioned so far, it uses its own virtual currency, gems, for pricing, with 1,000 gems costing 0.05 SOL. The cheapest pack I saw there cost 2,862 gems, which is currently around $30.
ToCa
Built on Solana, ToCa offers a prize-based game similar to PoolTogether. In other words, it's not a card trading marketplace, but rather a hub for prize pools, each backed by PSA 10-rated Pokémon cards. To participate, simply purchase ToCa's native token, TCG. Every dollar you hold counts toward entry into all active prize pools.
Beezie
Beezie is built on Flow but also supports cross-chain payments via ETH, SOL, and more. Flow is also EVM-compatible, so you can get started with your existing Ethereum wallet. Beezie offers a variety of features, including tokenization and vault services. However, its main draw is its universal marketplace and claw machine, which allows you to instantly resell any card for 90% of its market value. The platform also supports comics and sports cards.
DYFI
Built on the Abstract platform, DYLI offers a range of Pokémon-related products (such as graded and ungraded cards, single-card booster packs, and sealed collectibles), as well as non-Pokémon-related products (such as precious metals, merchandise, and Magic: The Gathering cards). The platform also offers basic Dabble and Flip games, which are fun and easy ways to obtain random cards. There's also a Creator Studio, where you can create your own merchandise.
Drip
Drip, built on Ronin, supports a variety of physical collectibles in addition to Pokémon cards. It's also known for its livestream shopping feature, allowing community sellers to host video-based experiences like "teardown" or "shipping" events. If you've recently been using Ronin and are looking to expand beyond gaming, Drip is an excellent option for you.
