Why Pokémon Cards Are Better Onchain (and How to Trade Them) - Ep. 898

Unchained

Pokémon cards are no longer just collectibles stuffed in a binder. They’re becoming liquid, tradable assets onchain.
In this episode, Collector Crypt CEO Tuom Holmberg and Bitwise’s Danny Nelson explain how the project is reimagining the $100 billion trading card industry. From slashing eBay’s 13% fees to near-zero, to solving decades-old authentication problems with vaulting and NFTs, to launching a token that surged 700% in weeks, Collector Crypt is pushing trading cards into crypto rails.
We also explore whether this is the start of a “Polymarket moment” for collectibles, how these cards could be used in DeFi, and if mainstream investors might soon allocate to Pokémon decks alongside BTC and ETH.

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  Guests:

• Danny Nelson, Research Analyst at Bitwise Asset Management
• ⁠Tuom Holmberg⁠, CEO of Collector Crypt

Timestamps:

• 🎬 0:00 Intro

• 🛒 2:35 Why eBay’s fees are so high and how Collector Crypt cuts them down

• 🎴 7:50 How a Pokémon card collector would actually trade onchain

• 🔒 9:40 What security measures protect vaulted cards

• 👤 11:13 How Tuom’s background led him to build Collector Crypt

• 📉 13:14 The highs and lows of launching the app over time

• ⚖️ 21:24 How the company navigates copyright issues with Pokémon

• 💰 23:05 Why the $CARDS token surged 700% in weeks

• 🏦 28:28 How Collector Crypt makes money

• ⚡ 29:43 Why the team chose to build on Solana

• 🌍 31:43 How big the trading card market could get onchain

• 🔮 35:03 What’s next in Collector Crypt’s roadmap

• 🔥 39:25 Why Danny Nelson calls this a “Polymarket moment”

• 🖼️ 41:31 What makes digital trading cards different from other tokenized assets

• 👀 45:06 Why Collector Crypt grabbed so much attention last week

• 📊 49:22 How traditional funds could start investing in trading cards

• 🌐 52:04 Whether trading cards are about to go mainstream

• 🔗 53:40 How Pokémon decks could even be used in DeFi

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