In June 2026, Bitcoin fell more than 20%, hitting a 21-month low, and spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a record $4.5 billion in outflows. None of that stopped users from pouring a record $324 million into onchain gacha, the blockchain-based randomised trading card pack market, according to Blockworks Research. A year earlier, monthly spending in the sector was roughly $50 million.
What Is Onchain Gacha?
Gacha is a mechanism borrowed from Japanese vending machines: a fixed payment yields a random item. In the trading card game (TCG) market, this translates to sealed booster packs containing a random assortment of cards. The buyer has no advance knowledge of what they will receive.
Card values vary dramatically. Print run, rarity, condition, and year of release push prices from cents to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single rare copy in pristine condition. The broader TCG collectibles market is valued at $9.2 billion by Global Market Insights and at $15.11 billion by Mordor Intelligence.
Grading companies such as PSA, Beckett, and CGC assess each card for image centering, corner condition, surface scratches, and stains, then assign a numerical grade and seal the card in a protective plastic case called a slab. The grade directly determines resale value: two identical cards in different grades can command completely different prices.
Projects including Collector Crypt and Courtyard accept physical, already-graded cards, store them in vaults, and issue NFTs tied to specific copies. When a user opens a pack onchain, they receive a token backed by a real card in a real vault. That token can be held, sold on a marketplace, flipped back to the platform, or redeemed for the physical card.
Why the Pokémon Craze Is Driving Demand
Pokémon cards are the core product for most onchain TCG platforms. Research firm Circana reported that Pokémon became the most popular toy brand in the United States in 2025, with $2.5 billion in sales, up 87% year on year. Wealthier members of Generations Y and Z have increasingly chosen rare cards over expensive fine art. Demand for grading became so intense that PSA temporarily suspended submissions across four basic service tiers in June 2026 as it worked through a backlog of almost 10 million cards.
Dakota Campbell, head of marketing at Collector Crypt, said: ‘Traditional marketplaces are slow and expensive. With tokenized trading cards, collectors can buy, sell, trade, and verify ownership instantly while the physical asset remains securely vaulted until they want it shipped.’
Collector Crypt has tokenized roughly $40 million worth of cards and comic books. About $23 million of that inventory belongs to the platform itself. The company purchases approximately $2 million in cards every week to keep pace with demand.
The Gacha Loop and Its Gambling Parallels
Speculation and the dopamine hit of a random prize are undeniably part of the appeal. Most platforms offer an instant buyback feature that creates a tight feedback loop: open a pack, sell an unwanted card back for roughly 85% of its value, and immediately open another. Pull something rare and list it or hold it. Unlike physical card markets, there is no shipping delay and no need to locate a buyer independently.
This mechanic closely resembles video-game loot boxes, which some jurisdictions have already attempted to bring under gambling regulations. Whether that regulatory logic extends to tokenized TCGs will likely depend on how large the sector grows. The underlying mechanic is the same one the traditional card market has always run on; the difference is speed. Offchain, closing the gacha loop takes weeks. Onchain, it takes seconds.
According to Dune Analytics data, users burn between 5% and 8% of Courtyard-issued NFTs each week, with each burn representing a physical redemption claim. Collector Crypt reports that around 30% of its users eventually redeem a physical card, and Campbell said many more hold their cards in their onchain inventory past the 72-hour buyback window rather than flipping them. He said 5,400 assets shipped to 634 unique users at an insured value of $3.29 million over the previous 30 days.
Custodial Risk Remains the Core Concern
The value of every tokenized card NFT rests on the assumption that the partner vault holds exactly that card at exactly the stated grade. PSA itself has reported a rise in counterfeit submissions, meaning the authentication layer is under pressure. Users absorb custodial risk covering the asset’s safety, authentication integrity, and the platform’s own durability.
Campbell acknowledged speculation is present but argued the platform benefits most from committed collectors chasing their next ‘grail.’ He said: ‘There is always speculation in an emerging market, especially in the crypto sector.’
Blockchain startups in this space are applying a straightforward tokenization strategy: moving a proven collectibles business onto faster, cheaper rails. June’s record figures reflect a booming underlying card market, a sufficiently mature tokenization stack, and a gacha mechanic that fits naturally onchain. Whether spending can hold at these levels is an open question. The same speed that drove inflows can reverse them just as quickly.