Coinbase is planning a new feature that could let users open Pokémon trading card packs directly from their phones, with every digital pull backed by a real physical card.
The company teased the feature on September 28, saying users would be able to open packs through their phones and then choose what happens to the physical cards. They could keep the cards in a vault or have them shipped to them.
Coinbase has not announced an exact launch date, saying only that the product is coming “soon.”
Pokémon appears to be part of the planned service. When a user described it as Pokémon packs being put onchain, Coinbase replied that they understood the idea.
However, many details are still unknown. Coinbase has not said which Pokémon sets will be available, how much the packs will cost, where the physical cards will be stored, or which countries will get access first.
The company also has not explained whether each physical card will be represented by a blockchain token or another type of digital ownership record.
The idea is similar to other platforms that have already brought physical Pokémon cards into the digital asset market. Collector Crypt, for example, stores physical cards and creates digital tokens connected to ownership of those cards.
Users can trade the digital version without immediately taking possession of the physical card. If they want the actual card delivered, they can request a withdrawal, pay the shipping costs, and the related NFT is removed.
Other companies have also entered the market. Courtyard has handled significant Pokémon-related trading volume, while platforms such as Phygitals and Beezie have developed products around physical collectibles.
Renaiss also raised $1.5 million in June to build infrastructure for bringing trading cards and other collectibles onchain through verified custody.
Coinbase’s planned feature appears to follow a similar model, connecting a digital trading experience with a physical collectible.
The move also fits Coinbase’s broader “Everything Exchange” strategy. The company has been working to expand beyond traditional cryptocurrency trading and bring products such as stocks, derivatives, prediction markets and tokenized assets into the same ecosystem.
Coinbase launched tokenized versions of several US stocks on Base in August for eligible users outside the US. The first group included Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet, with each token linked to a real share held through regulated custody.
The company later added Amazon, Microsoft, Strategy, SanDisk, SpaceX and Tesla after the first group generated $227.7 million in decentralized exchange trading volume during its first month.
Coinbase has also expanded its self-custody wallet, adding access to products such as perpetual futures, prediction markets and tokenized stocks.
The Pokémon project would take that strategy into the physical collectibles market.
The important part is that the cards would remain real physical collectibles. Users could open a pack digitally while the corresponding physical card stays securely stored until they decide to have it shipped.
Coinbase has not yet revealed who would store or authenticate the cards, whether a third-party company would handle grading and shipping, or whether users will be able to trade individual cards after opening a pack.
It is also unclear whether the digital ownership records would run on Base, another blockchain, or Coinbase’s own systems.
For now, Coinbase has only teased the product and has not provided a firm launch date. The company says the Pokémon-backed card packs are coming “soon.”
