Pokémon Card Sales Are Surging on Crypto Platforms—Just Don't Call It Gambling

1.10% $0.00392633 0.65% $0.449962 0.69% $1.21 -0.19% $0.998544 0.04% $1.011 0.00% $1.00 0.00% $9.34 -0.05% $0.193078 3.85% $0.999716 0.01% $100.09 0.90% $0.051863 -0.73% $1.15 -0.11% $1.00 0.00% $0.088705 -0.53% $0.375466 -10.98% $1.98 -2.43% $0.066117 -1.30% $0.29871 -0.34% $0.374221 -4.73% $0.00260011 -3.28% $0.130698 0.02% $0.125255 -3.63% $1.022 -0.48% $0.999812 0.02% $0.997265 -0.20% $0.03015445 3.22% $0.998289 -0.10% $0.098814 -0.28% $0.03280251 -2.13% $0.24158 -1.11% $0.143434 -0.56% $0.00000058 -1.80% $1.31 -3.03% $0.117456 -2.94% $0.117032 -3.35% $0.070926 -4.89% $0.999653 -0.03% $0.998026 0.01% $1,098.98 -0.00% $1.00 0.00% $0.03003755 -2.86% $0.244813 -1.28% $0.278915 3.23% $0.01556576 -6.03% * * * Reading Pokémon Card Sales Are Surging on Crypto Platforms—Just Don't Call It Gambling * * * * * * By Edited by Jun 14, 2026 Jun 14, 2026 5 min read Create an account to save your articles. Add Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Image: Decrypt/Shutterstock * Monthly sales for tokenized Pokémon cards skyrocketed over the past year, fueled by a wave of speculative demand surrounding trading cards. * The surge is largely due to gacha machines, which mirror the pack-ripping experience hobbyists enjoy while bordering on gambling. * To combat skepticism and "rug pull" concerns, Collector Crypt uses a 28,000-square-foot facility in Montana to secure its physical inventory. Somewhere in Montana, a trove of Pokémon cards sits behind locked doors, anchoring a multi-million-dollar crypto market within a 28,000-square-foot facility. CEO Tuom Holmberg told _Decrypt_ that since Collector Crypt debuted 18 months ago, the company’s vaulting facility has become core to its branding, amid a growing number of competitors that also offer tokenized versions of the popular playing cards. “Out of these 30 other vibe-coded platforms that followed us, probably half of them keep their inventory in their closets,” he argued, referring to a string of companies that have debuted in response to surging demand for names like Pikachu, Charizard, and Gengar. The global market for trading cards surged to $15.8 billion in 2024 and is expected to hit $23.5 billion by 2030, research firm Strategic Market Research last year. As of Friday, the global market cap for stood at $2.4 billion, according to .