‘Combine your passion with an investment strategy’: Meet the venture capital using 500,000 Pokémon and trading cards as a hedge against a debt crisis

The U.S. national debt is more than $40 trillion, and it’s only growing from here. Wage growth keeps stalling; job growth is staying stagnant; and grocery prices are trending up. With the 10-year Treasury yield nearing 5% as heavy government borrowing puts pressure on the bond market, some investors are looking for safer places to store their hard-earned cash.

Investing in alternative assets isn’t new: In recent years, there have been many different (let’s say creative) investment opportunities, from NFTs to tokenized gold, and from crypto to traditional market trading. But for one person, the draw of a childhood game brings back more than just memories: collecting Pokémon cards has become a long-term investment vehicle with the upside of having beautiful art to relish in.

“I love the way they look”

Peter Levin is not what you would call a casual collector. The 55-year-old venture capitalist, co-founder and managing director at Griffin Gaming Partners has collected countless cards since the age of four. 

“I’ve been collecting, you know, practically my whole life,” he told Fortune.

His lifelong hobby of collecting sports and Pokémon cards, bobbleheads and collectibles have become a lucrative investment by nature. According to data from The Washington Post, Pokémon cards generated a roughly 3,821% return between 2004 and 2025—a massive margin compared to the S&P 500’s 483% gain in the same time period.

“Once that generation who collected and played as kids have gotten to a place in life where they have disposable income, you know they’re going to make a determination,” he said. “Perhaps modern art or bobbleheads or watches isn’t their........

© Fortune