Inside Singapore’s Pokemon trading boom

According to Strategic Market Research, the global trading card market was worth about US$15.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit US$23.5 billion by 2030, with Pokemon cards driving much of the growth. Asst Prof Chua Yeow Hwee from NTU points to social media, live streams and grading services as forces that make prices transparent and hype easier to amplify. Unlike past collectibles crazes, today’s market runs on infrastructure that allows information and speculation to spread almost instantly. A single influencer’s post can send buyers flocking to a particular art variant or promotional card overnight. But he urges caution – that same attention can disappear just as quickly. “Their prices depend heavily on beliefs and community attention. That does not mean they have no value, but it means the value is culturally and socially produced, rather than grounded in cash flows like stocks or bonds.”

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