Unique items such as baseball cards, paintings, stamps, and rare coins have long held value to collectors. Their uniqueness and rarity give them value. Some of the rarest trading cards have sold for millions of dollars.
That same uniqueness has moved into the digital realm in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Digital creators are making NFTs into collectibles like trading cards. And, as with physical trading cards, collectors hope the uniqueness of NFT trading cards will make them increasingly valuable.
Here's a look at how to invest in digital NFT trading cards.
How digital NFT trading cards work
An NFT trading card is created on the blockchain, most commonly Ethereum (ETH -0.62%). While they're not tangible (meaning you can't physically hold them), the NFT holder owns the deed to the digital trading card in a sense. If it appreciates in value, the NFT owner can sell it at a profit.
There are a growing number of digital collectibles, including trading cards. Some digital NFT trading cards that investors might want to consider include:
| NFT Trading Card Collection | Description |
|---|---|
| NBA Top Shot | Officially licensed digital collectibles from the NBA. |
| Curio Cards | One of the first NFT art projects on the Ethereum blockchain. |
| Candy Digital | The office NFT platform for Major League Baseball. |
| SoRare | A digital soccer game. |
| Axie Infinity | A digital pet universe. |
| Gods Unchained | The first free-to-play multiplayer blockchain-based game. |
Here's a closer look at these digital NFT trading cards.
NBA Top Shot
NBA Top Shot is an NFT marketplace where fans can trade, sell, and buy NFTs of NBA moments. These NFTs are highlight clips that work like trading cards. Fans can even buy packs of moments, similar to buying packs of physical trading cards.
NBA Top Shot has sold more than $500 million worth of NFT trading cards. The most valuable moment was a LeBron James dunk against the Houston Rockets, which sold for $387,600.
Curio Cards
Curio Cards is a set of 30 unique digital NFT trading cards featuring artwork from seven different artists. They were one of the first NFT art projects completed on the Ethereum blockchain.
What makes Curio Cards valuable is their rarity. The creators only minted 29,700 cards, with an estimated 4,000 cards lost or destroyed. Because of that, the supply ranges from 111 to 2,000 per card in the 30-card series. A complete set of cards sold for more than $1.2 million in 2021.
Candy Digital
Candy Digital is the official NFT platform for Major League Baseball. It allows fans and collectors to buy, sell, and trade officially licensed MLB NFTs.
In addition to sports trading cards, the platform creates and sells digitized sports memorabilia pieces. These collectibles include digital goods such as jerseys and plays of the day, as well as personalized experiences such as throwing a pitch in your favorite team's stadium.
SoRare
SoRare is a digital soccer game allowing users to buy, sell, trade, and manage a virtual team using NFT player cards. It uses blockchain technology based on Ethereum.
The platform allows users to play a virtual game with teams made up of five soccer players. It secured the rights to several European soccer giants and the MLS, Korean, and Japanese soccer leagues, allowing gamers to build teams around their favorite players.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is a popular NFT game. It allows players to collect, battle, raise, breed, trade, and build a digital kingdom for their pets, called Axies. They can give their Axies additional abilities using trading cards. The game has more than 130 trading cards, divided into six primary classes and three secret classes.
Each Axie is also a unique NFT. Players can create more valuable Axies by using cards that enhance their skills. A single Axie once sold for more than $800,000, while a plot of digital land in the Axie Infinity metaverse fetched more than $2.3 million.
Gods Unchained
Gods Unchained is the world's first free-to-play multiplayer blockchain-based game. The NFT trading card game uses the Ethereum blockchain.
Gamers need to use strategy to outsmart their opponents by creating decks of trading cards to use in combat against other players. Users own their digital NFT cards, enabling them to buy, sell, trade, or use them as they see fit. God Unchained is a play-to-earn game, allowing players to earn in-game items (NFTs) that they can sell for cash. Players can also sell the NFT trading cards they create in the game.
Should you invest in digital NFT trading cards?
Digital NFT trading cards are a lot like physical cards because uniqueness makes them more valuable. Finding something truly rare and highly valuable is no easy task. Investors will need to put a lot of effort into learning about this emerging marketplace in the hope of finding investments that can yield a return on their time and money. Because of that, it might not be the best investment opportunity for those who don't have any interest in owning these types of collectibles. You could lose a lot of money trying to find an NFT trading card that turns out to be a rare winner.
