Logan Paul sold a Pokémon card for $16 million — and crypto money is pouring into the market

Pokémon is celebrating its 30th day this twelvemonth — and the fictional “pocket monsters” that span video games, trading cards and an animated TV bid are much fashionable than ever.

In the precocious 1990s, kids would cod and commercialized Pokémon cards for fun, trying to implicit their postulation and possibly adjacent way down 1 of the uncommon holographic cards, called shinies.

Must Read

• You tin present physique wealthiness similar a landlord for arsenic small arsenic $100 — and no, you don't person to pursuit down rent oregon instrumentality 3 A.M tenant calls

• Robert Kiyosaki says this 1 plus volition surge 400% successful a twelvemonth and begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’

• Dave Ramsey warns astir 50% of Americans are making 1 large Social Security mistake — here’s however to hole it ASAP

That’s inactive the case, but uncommon cards — and adjacent caller ones — are worthy a batch much these days. In immoderate cases, they’re outperforming accepted plus classes.

“New cards tin merchantability retired successful minutes,” writes Arjun Kharpal, elder exertion analogous for CNBC. “People coordinate connected X and Discord to cognize wherever to go. Prized cards resell astatine multiples of what they retail for. The rarest tin merchantability for millions of dollars.” (1)

Pokémon trading cards saw a 3,821% monthly cumulative instrumentality from 2004 done August 2025, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing an scale by analytics steadfast Card Ladder (which tracks trading paper values). (2)

Why are trading cards each the rage?

Collectibles surged successful popularity during the aboriginal days of the pandemic, possibly driven by nostalgia oregon stay-at-home boredom. (3)

The trading cards person been astir since 1996, erstwhile they were released successful Japan (and since 1999 successful North America). From there, Pokémon paper tournaments emerged; today, there’s adjacent a satellite championship. (4)

The brand’s popularity skyrocketed successful 2016 with the motorboat of Pokémon Go, an augmented world smartphone crippled that allowed you to “catch” Pokémon successful the existent world. This was followed by the motorboat of the Nintendo Switch successful 2017.

About 3 years ago, The Pokémon Company started releasing caller sets of cards with archetypal characters from the precocious ’90s — and the buzz has intensified with peculiar 30th day cards.

“It’s benignant of similar a Pokémon renaissance,” Stephanie Farnsworth, a lecturer successful media and communications astatine the University of Sunderland, told CNBC. (1)

And those who’ve made wealth from cryptocurrency are “piling into the market,” Kharpal writes, “as prices scope unprecedented levels.” (1)

That’s turning what was erstwhile a amusive puerility hobby into a speculative opportunity, with cards trading connected platforms similar eBay and TCGplayer. Indeed, Card Ladder provides scale information for trading cards, specified arsenic Pokémon. (5)