Coinbase has teased plans to let users open Pokémon trading card packs from their phones, with each pull backed by a physical card that can either remain in a vault or be shipped to its owner.
Summary
- Coinbase has teased Pokémon card packs that users will be able to open from their phones, with every pull backed by a physical collectible.
- Users will be able to keep pulled cards in a vault or have them shipped, though Coinbase has not disclosed how ownership will be recorded.
- The feature fits Coinbase’s Everything Exchange strategy as the company expands its platform beyond conventional crypto trading.
Coinbase previewed the feature on Sept. 28, telling users they would be able to “rip packs” through their phones and decide what happens to the physical cards they receive. The company gave no launch date beyond saying the product was coming “soon.”
“Rip packs on your phone. Every pull backed by a real, physical card. Vault it or ship it,” Coinbase said.
Pokémon appears to be part of the planned offering. Responding to a user who described the feature as “pokemon packs on the chain,” Coinbase replied, “you get it.”
Details remain limited. Coinbase has not said which Pokémon sets will be offered, how packs will be priced, where the physical cards will be stored or which markets will initially have access to the service. The teaser did not identify a blockchain or explain whether ownership of individual cards would be represented through tokens.
Pokémon cards could become another asset on Coinbase
Physical Pokémon cards have already found a market onchain, giving Coinbase an existing model to build on as it moves into collectibles.
Crypto.news previously reported that tokenized Pokémon cards were being traded through Collector Crypt, which stores physical cards and creates digital tokens representing ownership.
Collector Crypt allows users to buy tokenized cards without taking immediate possession of the underlying collectible. Its withdrawal system connects the digital asset to the physical card, with users paying shipping costs and burning the corresponding NFT when they want the card delivered.
The platform had facilitated more than $70 million in Pokémon pack sales by September 2025, including $5 million during a single transaction cycle, according to figures cited at the time.
Collector Crypt was not alone in targeting the market. Courtyard had recorded more than $100 million in Pokémon related volume, while platforms including Phygitals and Beezie were developing similar products around physical collectibles.
A newer project, Renaiss, raised $1.5 million in June to develop infrastructure for bringing trading cards and other collectibles onchain through verified custody.
Coinbase’s teaser points to a similar link between a digital trading interface and a physical item, though the company has yet to disclose the technical setup behind its product.
Coinbase is pushing its Everything Exchange beyond crypto
The Pokémon card feature appears to fit into Coinbase’s attempt to put more types of tradable assets inside its products.
When another user reacted to the card announcement, Coinbase responded, “well, we are the Everything Exchange.”
Coinbase formally laid out that strategy in June, describing plans to combine crypto, equities, derivatives, prediction markets and other financial products within the same ecosystem.
The company has moved quickly on several parts of the plan since then. Four tokenized U.S. stocks went live on Base in August, giving eligible non U.S. investors access to tokens tied to Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares.
Each token represents a beneficial interest in a real share held through segregated regulated custody. The products can be traded onchain and used with supported decentralized finance applications, while access remains restricted for U.S. persons.
Coinbase added six more stocks in early September after the first group generated $227.7 million in decentralized exchange volume during its first month. Amazon, Microsoft, Strategy, SanDisk, SpaceX and Tesla were included in the second batch.
By Sept. 12, Base based tokenized stocks had reached $100 million in daily decentralized exchange trading volume, while 30 day volume stood at $730.9 million.
Coinbase has been expanding the range of assets available through its self custody product at the same time. The company restored the Coinbase Wallet name in September and positioned the app around multichain trading, perpetual futures, prediction markets and tokenized stocks.
The wallet now supports products beyond conventional spot crypto, including more than 290 perpetual markets supplied through Hyperliquid for eligible users.
Physical cards remain at the center of the model
The brief Pokémon teaser leaves one distinction clear: the product is tied to real cards rather than purely digital collectibles.
Users who open a pack through Coinbase would receive a pull backed by a physical card. They could leave that card in storage or request delivery, based on the options described by the company.
Such a structure allows a collectible to remain stored while ownership changes digitally, a model already used by platforms dealing in tokenized cards.
Coinbase has not disclosed who will custody the Pokémon cards or whether an outside company will handle authentication, grading, storage and shipping. The company has not said whether users will be able to trade individual pulls with one another after opening packs.
It remains unclear whether the digital representation of each card will be recorded on Base, another blockchain or within Coinbase’s own systems.
Coinbase has given no firm release date for the feature, saying only that Pokémon backed card packs are coming “soon.”
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