Solana’s onchain degens have traded in memecoins and NFTs for Pokémon cards this week, illustrating why blockchain systems offer fertile ground for verifiable asset ownership.
TCG platforms like Collector Crypt and Phytigals have enjoyed an explosion in volume, revenue, and users, blurring the lines between real-world collectibles and onchain markets.
Are these collectors really trying to “catch ’em all”, or just speculate on the shiny new meta? Will the TCG meta last, and where will “Exotic RWA” hunters look next?
Wildly popular among collectors in the Web2 world, the Pokémon TCG craze has spilled over into onchain markets. After steadily increasing all year, TCG platform marketplace and gacha machine, or randomized card pulling, volume reached a new weekly all-time high of $36.5M.
Advocates of the onchain TCG market argue that blockchain technology provides an ideal environment for card collecting. Despite flourishing for decades, trading card markets have been plagued by inefficiencies like poor liquidity and complex geo-distribution.
Operating collectible trading onchain offers far greater liquidity for sellers, while providing proof-of-authenticity for buyers.
However, onchain data indicates that the vast majority of Solana’s TCG collectors are more interested in speculating than collecting their favourite cards. According to Dune Analytics, ~96.7% total protocol volume comes almost entirely from “spin-and-pray” gacha machines. In the week ending September 1st, users spent $9.9M on gacha spins, but only $324k on secondary market trades.
There’s an argument here that suggests users are happy to roll the dice in perpetuity until they find their favourite card. However, the lack of P2P trading volume on marketplaces implies that the gacha phenomenon is more akin to gambling, albeit wrapped in the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia.
Be that as it may, the emerging onchain TCG economy is starting to expand with novel new paradigms that are unavailable in the real world. Developers are hinting at the emergence of TCG lending markets, which would enable users to collateralize and borrow against their cards.
As is often the case, the “picks-and-shovels” are the biggest benefactors of any flourishing onchain meta. Collector Crypt, the dominant leader of Solana’s TCG scene, just recorded all-time highs in monthly revenue, netting ~$2.8M in August.
Inspired by Collector Crypt’s success, traders wasted no time seeking exposure through the platform’s native token. After suffering a tough launch and several days of stagnant trading, $CARDS price surged north of 900% almost overnight.
Desperate for a “beta” play, speculators are now routing their activity to rival platforms within unlaunched tokens, like phygitals. Since $CARDS’ dramatic move, gacha machine weekly volumes on the phygitals marketplace have risen by over 560%.
Phygitals’ remarkable growth off the back of $CARDS’ success is believed to be driven by its ongoing points campaign, which users hope will translate to a lucrative token airdrop.
For the time being, the onchain Pokémon TCG boom is showing no signs of slowing down. Gacha volumes remain consistently high, and marketplaces like Phygitals and Collector Crypt are capitalizing on soaring interest by unveiling new features and expanding inventories.
Meanwhile, rampant euphoria in TCG markets may be a ticking time bomb. In the face of surging demand, TPCi (The Pokémon Company International) has reportedly printed 42% of the TCG’s entire supply in the last 3 years alone.
As Pokémon TCG collectors enjoy watching their portfolios explode in value, eagle-eyed traders and investors are already scouting where the next opportunity could lie. All eyes now turn to the wider “Exotic RWA” market, where merchants of sports collectibles, gaming skins, and luxury spirits hope to catch some of the Pokémon TCG overflow.
While onchain TCG markets have enveloped NFT volumes, market participants have credited the NFT boom as the powerful proof-of-concept that has made exotic RWA trading a reality.
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