YouTuber and WWE star Logan Paul has sold his (in)famous Pokémon Illustrator card for a staggering $16.49 million. The buyer turned out to be AJ Scaramucci, son of the former White House communications director and founder of SkyBridge Capital. This transaction set a new all-time record, outclassing the previous $13 million paid in August for the Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant card.
Pokemon card, T-rex, Declaration of Independence
Scaramucci does not hide his ambition. According to reports by reporter Ben Burrows, the investor stated: “I’m on a planetary treasure hunt.” His sights now include the T-Rex fossil and even the Declaration of Independence. This is just the beginning of his shopping spree.
The subject of the viral transaction is the “Holy Grail” of card games – a card released in 1998, of which only 39 copies officially exist. Paul’s copy is the only known PSA 10, which in collector’s jargon means absolutely perfect condition: four sharp corners, full gloss and zero defects. Paul acquired it in July 2021 for USD 5.3 million, which already seemed an astronomical amount.
However, there is a shadow of controversy behind the record sum, which makes the crypto community look down on Paul. Shortly after purchasing the Pokemon card, Paul raised $8 million to launch Liquid Marketplace, a platform for tokenizing physical and digital collectibles. In 2024, the Ontario Securities Commission brought securities law violations against the platform and Paul himself, accusing them of misleading investors and misusing funds.
Logan Paul is again in the shadow of the crypto scandal
This transaction is proof that the RWA (Real World Assets) market still captures the imagination, despite legal problems. Pokémon cards are experiencing a renaissance in the Web3 ecosystem – Collector Crypt, a marketplace based on Solana, generated a volume of almost USD 37 million in the first week of January. Is this a bubble or the future of investing? The line between a Pikachu card and serious financial assets has just finally blurred.
