'Pikachu' Invades the Crypto World... Pokémon Card Tokens Now Bought, Sold, and Used as Loan Collateral [Bitcoin Now]

Pokémon Cards Traded as Tokens
Payments Made with Stablecoins
Even Loans Secured by Pokémon Card Tokens

As the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market expands, an ecosystem has formed for the tokenization of Pokémon cards, in addition to stocks and bonds. With the convenience of payment provided by stablecoins, Pokémon cards are rapidly transforming into highly liquid digital assets.

According to an analysis by NH Investment & Securities on September 5, attempts are being made to tokenize Pokémon cards, which are popular investment assets. Pokémon cards have evolved from simple toys to valuable investment assets, supported by the purchasing power of Millennials & Gen Z. Rare English and Japanese editions can be worth tens of millions of won.

A Pokémon card non-fungible token (NFT) is listed for 1200 USDC on CollectorCrypt. Screenshot from CollectorCrypt

Platforms such as CollectorCrypt, Courtyard, and Phygitals specialize in the tokenization of Pokémon cards. Their business model involves selling randomized packs composed of tokenized Pokémon cards. Purchasers of these random packs receive the cards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and can either resell them on NFT marketplaces or request a buyback from the platform at a discounted price compared to the market value.

The tokenized Pokémon cards can be traded easily, as they can be purchased with stablecoins and circulate freely on NFT marketplaces. While traditional Pokémon cards could present issues in storage, payment, or delivery, tokenization has resolved these risks.

In the tokenization era, stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, stock tokens, and Pokémon card NFTs can all be held in a single wallet, increasing the utility of previously illiquid assets. Notably, there have even been cases of taking out loans using Pokémon card NFTs as collateral. For example, a loan of 30,000 dollars was granted using a '1999 English Mewtwo 1st Edition (PSA10)' NFT, valued at around 60,000 dollars, as collateral.

The tokenization market continues to grow. According to Rwa.xyz, a data platform for real-world assets, the market capitalization of RWAs, including equities, government bonds, commodities, and credit assets, reached 31.23 billion dollars, up 2.7% from the previous month.

Hong Sungwook, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "For RWAs, the underlying asset needs to be attractive for a market to develop, as is the case with Pokémon cards," adding, "Standardized assets, like Pokémon cards, that can be structured as text or image databases are more favorable for tokenization."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.