Trading Cards Are The New Bitcoin
There has undoubtedly been a recent surge in sports cards and trading cards over the last year or so. There is so much to break down in this previously considered niche market that I believe may also be telling of other collectibles and cultural trends for years to come. I also see an uncanny resemblance to the rise, fall, rise again, fall again, repeat pattern of Bitcoin. How does a piece of cardboard made for children bear any similarities to the globally decentralized digital currency? Let me try to break it down.
Whether it started with the attention from the culture trend guru, Gary Vee, or because we found ourselves going through childhood boxes out of quarantine boredom, the recent boom in the cardboard collectable space has stirred up interest in almost every 20-something year old. This was once a hobby for the nerdy sub-culture of collectors obsessing over cheap cards others simply threw away for lack of value. Sound familiar yet? Bitcoin was also something derived from a nerdy group of tech heads that no one believed to be worth any value early on. This is not a Revenge of the Nerds promo, but maybe we should reconsider the term “nerd” and replace it with “early adopter”.
Remember the first “boom” days of Bitcoin? Everyone started to take notice once it hit that $500–1500 price point. It was still considered a fad by most “educated investors” who believed it was just a get rich quick ploy akin to penny stocks. Something that was previously of no value or essentially pennies worth was now something people sought out to profit on and learn more about. Our society quickly become enthralled with the idea of seemingly unlimited potential in this digital asset. We are currently in those days for the trading card market. We are seeing an absurd spike with massive interest and volatile fluctuations in value. Many believe it to be a nostalgic trend born out of 2020 quarantine with its inevitable downfall approaching, but what if the path forward reflects that of Bitcoin and we are currently seeing an overlooked and underpriced asset worthy of investment consideration?
Aside from the value conversation to be had, this correlation between bitcoin and trading cards runs even deeper. We are now seeing a small but interesting segmentation of the card hobby using the same technology as bitcoin. This is taking shape in the form of digital trading cards with ownership being in the form of an NFT (or non-fungible token). This adoption of blockchain technology to a previously static and old school product shows how we need to be thinking about future trends for all collectables. Not only is the immersion of graphics and lack of tearing edges a bonus for going digital, but we can now see a practical use for these items in video games and online platforms as well. We are also sure to see the emergence of cards for influencers, entertainers, and musicians. The trends here can certainly appear to overlap one another, the question will be do cards boom like bitcoin or bust? The argument can certainly be made for both projections; however, I tend to believe we are seeing a crossover of a timeless hobby transition into the modern age leading to continuous growth, albeit may be as volatile if not more than its Bitcoin counterpart.
