Pokémon Card Trading Mania Is So Insane Japan’s Government Wants To Step In
Japan is now floating imposing new regulations on its trading card market amid the surging value of the items driving counterfeiting and alleged money laundering, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Ireland Owens · Jul 23, 2026 · 2 min read
Japan is now floating imposing new regulations on its trading card market amid the surging value of the items driving counterfeiting and alleged money laundering, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
A new ruling Liberal Democratic Party caucus in Japan formed to investigate the matter claimed in a statement that “trading cards are no longer simply consumer products,” Bloomberg reported. The trading card market’s “rapid expansion and the growing asset value of trading cards have given rise to problems that cannot be ignored,” according to the group’s statement.
The report comes as demand for Pokémon cards has continued to soar globally, CNN reported in February. Pokémon, which originated in Japan, is currently the highest-grossing media franchise worldwide, with lifetime revenues surpassing $147 billion, according to The Times.
The Pokémon Company did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
There have also been various recent reports of thieves stealing Pokémon cards and other trading cards. Authorities in Spain and Sweden discovered an alleged money-laundering scheme by a criminal organization in a spate of coordinated raids that was linked to Pokémon cards, The Telegraph reported in May.
Pokémon cards’ small size make them easy to conceal and provide criminals an easy method to transport their stolen money abroad, video game news site AUTOMATON reported in December 2024.
A business owner in Pennsylvania is now facing charges after allegedly selling a customer’s high-value vintage Pokémon cards and pocketing the money, ABC27 reported on July 17.
The global trading card game market size was worth roughly $7.43 Billion in 2024 and is projected to rise to about $15.84 Billion by 2034, according to estimates from Zion Market Research.
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