{"id":4575,"date":"2026-09-15T05:40:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:40:37","slug":"meet-the-venture-capital-using-500000-pokemon-and-trading-cards-as-a-hedge-against-a-debt-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575","title":{"rendered":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The U.S. national debt is more than $40 trillion, and it\u2019s only growing from here. Wage growth keeps stalling; job growth is staying stagnant; and grocery prices are trending up. With the 10-year Treasury yield nearing 5% as heavy government borrowing puts pressure on the bond market, some investors are looking for safer places to store their hard-earned cash.<\/p>\n

\n

Investing in alternative assets isn\u2019t new: In recent years, there have been many different (let\u2019s say creative) investment opportunities, from NFTs to tokenized gold, and from crypto to traditional market trading. But for one person, the draw of a childhood game brings back more than just memories: Collecting Pok\u00e9mon cards has become a long-term investment vehicle with the upside of having beautiful art to relish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the way they look\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Peter Levin is not what you would call a casual collector. The 55-year-old venture capitalist, who is the cofounder and managing director at Griffin Gaming Partners, has collected countless cards since the age of 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been collecting, you know, practically my whole life,\u201d he told Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n

His lifelong hobby of collecting sports and Pok\u00e9mon cards, bobbleheads, and collectibles has become a lucrative investment by nature. According to data from the Washington Post<\/em>, Pok\u00e9mon cards generated a roughly 3,821% return between 2004 and 2025\u2014a massive margin compared to the S&P 500\u2019s 483% gain in the same time period.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that generation who collected and played as kids have gotten to a place in life where they have disposable income, you know they\u2019re going to make a determination,\u201d he said. \u201cPerhaps modern art or bobbleheads or watches isn\u2019t their thing, but trading cards are.\u201d<\/p>\n

That personal nostalgia and connection is the crux that keeps the market together. It\u2019s an ongoing cycle where \u201cgeneration after generation has embraced the form factor\u201d\u2014and that\u2019s what sets trading cards apart from previous alternative assets like NFTs, Levin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a trend for people\u2014while expanding at the same time with all these bleeding edge technologies\u2014to also kind of circle back to real life experiences. More tangible things, and trading cards are very much that. There\u2019s a stickiness to it. There\u2019s a community to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Levin, this isn\u2019t just a cash-cow financial investment that he wants to liquidate as soon as the market gets big enough. If he was in it for the money, he said, he would have already sold it by now. In fact, he doesn\u2019t even have an estimate on the worth of his 500,000 trading-card collection, though he did mention, \u201cNone of my good stuff is kept at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is, I like to collect all cards. I love to get my hands on cards,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I have a deep appreciation when people take the time and energy to create something that is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThere are certain cards where I just love the way they look, and I love the quality of the paper.\u201d <\/p>\n

A newfound profession<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And that hobby-turned-financial-decision has seeped into Levin\u2019s personal and professional life. He just attended his 31st Comic-Con this past year, and the man admits to being called \u201cbatshit crazy\u201d: He sent Fortune <\/em>a what he said was a never-before-seen photo of his wall covered in \u201ctens of thousands\u201d of pins ranging from Star Wars<\/em> and Power Rangers<\/em> characters to Hello Kitty<\/em> and Nintendo characters.<\/p>\n

Among his reserve includes a collection of 25,000-plus comic books and half a million trading cards\u2014including about 100,000 Pok\u00e9mon cards with the rest being made up of baseball, basketball, and collab cards like a Dodgers crossover of a \u201cOne Piece<\/em> trading card.\u201d The Dodgers fan also said he has \u201cevery Ohtani bobblehead that\u2019s ever been made.\u201d He even managed to bring that obsession into his profession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a cohort within Griffin that competes every other week,\u201d he noted. \u201cYou know, we have Magic the Gathering<\/em> get-togethers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Levin, his aspiration of a Pok\u00e9mon-card-led currency has its merits. He told the Hollywood Reporter<\/em> he believes Pok\u00e9mon cards could become a global currency in the aftermath of an apocalypse, based on their worldwide recognition, accessibility, and increasingly valuable secondary market.<\/p>\n

He later told Fortune <\/em>he was joking about the post-apocalyptic part\u2014but he still believes Pok\u00e9mon is globally unifying given how ubiquitous and universal it has become. Part of it is that it\u2019s essentially a level playing field: Anyone can build a card collection, and everyone has an equal shot of getting a \u201crare\u201d card. Wealthy investors are not the only ones getting the valuable cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a global currency, everybody knows Pok\u00e9mon, it\u2019s big everywhere. It\u2019s accepted by all cultures and societies, and it\u2019s celebrated and it\u2019s cross generational,\u201d Levin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can combine your passion with an investment strategy,\u201d Levin added, \u201cor at least a sub-vertical within your investment strategy, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gotta catch \u2019em all<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Pok\u00e9mon card itself dates back to 1996, the same year the original Pok\u00e9mon games debuted in Japan. The cards initially functioned primarily as a game and collectible\u2014but over time, rare cards became valuable commodities in their own right. Professional grading companies evaluate cards based on condition while online marketplaces and auction houses have created a global market where buyers and sellers can establish prices.<\/p>\n

The market\u2019s biggest acceleration came during COVID, when people who were stuck at home returned to the hobby while investors and influencers began treating the cards like assets. Online e-commerce company eBay reported that domestic trading-card sales jumped 142% in 2020, while Pok\u00e9mon card sales specifically surged by more than 574%.<\/p>\n

And rare cards are reaching prices that would have been almost unimaginable during Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s original 1990s boom. A first-edition, shadowless Charizard card sold for $369,000 in 2020, and it was only up from there. Online content creator Logan Paul purchased a Pikachu Illustrator card for $5.275 million in 2021 and later sold it in February for approximately $16.5 million\u2014setting a new record for a trading card in the process.<\/p>\n

The market today has become large enough to attract major attention. Entertainment company Disney partnered with trading-card maker Topps to make collectible cards involving Disney properties, while Hasbro and Ravensburger have also expanded into the card business. The trading-card market is estimated at as much as $50 billion annually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Meet #venture #capital #Pok\u00e9mon #trading #cards #hedge #debt #crisis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. national debt is more… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4580,2549,1696,4565,7588,1458,373,2604,22,792,7589,1785,3100],"class_list":["post-4575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-assets","tag-baseball","tag-capital","tag-cards","tag-collectibles","tag-crisis","tag-debt","tag-hedge","tag-investment","tag-meet","tag-pokemon","tag-trading","tag-venture"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. national debt is more…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png?w=2048\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"headline\":\"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575\"},\"wordCount\":1091,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png\",\"keywords\":[\"assets\",\"baseball\",\"capital\",\"cards\",\"Collectibles\",\"crisis\",\"debt\",\"hedge\",\"INVESTMENT\",\"Meet\",\"Pok\u00e9mon\",\"trading\",\"venture\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Finance News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575\",\"name\":\"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=4575#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\",\"name\":\"Finance News\",\"description\":\"Just another Finance News site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News","og_description":"The U.S. national debt is more…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575","og_site_name":"Finance News","article_published_time":"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png?w=2048","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"admin","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"5 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"headline":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis","datePublished":"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575"},"wordCount":1091,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png","keywords":["assets","baseball","capital","cards","Collectibles","crisis","debt","hedge","INVESTMENT","Meet","Pok\u00e9mon","trading","venture"],"articleSection":["Finance News"],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575","name":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis - Finance News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png","datePublished":"2026-09-15T05:40:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Image-Aug-19-2026-05_49_20-PM-e1789161152287.png","width":1199,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4575#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pok\u00e9mon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/","name":"Finance News","description":"Just another Finance News site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}