In February 2026 a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator owned by Logan Paul sold at Goldin for $16,492,000. Guinness World Records lists it as the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction. Paul had bought the card in 2021 for $5,275,000, which was already a record for a Pokémon card sold privately.
Why a piece of cardboard has a quotable price
The card is graded. A grading company authenticated it, scored its condition out of ten and sealed it in a plastic case, the slab. The grade is what makes two copies comparable, and a comparable asset is one that can have a market price. Paul famously wore this slab on a diamond necklace, and it changed hands the same way: it was placed around the buyer's neck.
The market moved on-chain
Most of the market sits far below that price, and it is much more liquid than it used to be. Collector Crypt keeps graded cards in insured vaults and issues a token for each one on Solana. The token trades around the clock and can be redeemed for the physical card. The platform passed $1 billion in total volume about eighteen months after launching its pack product in December 2024.
What is still missing
With all of that, a card owner still has exactly one position available: own the card. A dealer holding $50,000 of inventory cannot protect it against a falling market, and selling means waiting for a buyer or taking a discount. Nobody who thinks prices are too high can take the other side.
That gap is what Kadex is built for: a perpetual market on an index of graded cards. You can go long or short on the index with margin, without buying, shipping or storing a slab.
Kadex is not affiliated with or endorsed by Logan Paul, Goldin, PSA, Guinness World Records or Collector Crypt. Figures come from the sources listed below.