Each month, we’re bringing you a breakdown of startups’ journeys building on Solana, as well as noteworthy blockchain and ecosystem updates.
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The Latest Solana Sessions Podcast
In this episode of Solana Sessions, we sat down with Dakota Campbell, head of marketing at Collector Crypt, to discuss how the platform turns physical trading cards into onchain assets, and why it chose to build on Solana.
Campbell explained how the collectibles market is experiencing a rise in popularity through gacha-style mechanics, a digital vending machine that reveals a trading card at random. He also walked through Collector Crypt's revenue breakdown and why the platform's 2% marketplace fee is undercutting eBay’s 14% seller fees.
This episode is part of the Solana Sessions podcast series by Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast, where we dive into the startups and founders building on Solana. Check out the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Trading cards sold on Solana rails
A marketplace for tokenized physical trading cards, Collector Crypt generated approximately $165 million in volume and $85 million in revenue in April 2026. The platform leverages Solana to operate a system where users can spin a virtual machine in exchange for a random card, which can be redeemed for the physical version or re-sold on the platform.
This system isn’t new, with arcades and vending machines in the real world using it successfully for decades, and onchain as well, with NFTs. A user would mint and reveal a random collectible, which could be kept or re-sold.
However, tokenizing trading cards and putting them in a vending machine-style system instead of an NFT collection became economically feasible due to low blockchain fees. "Only about five years ago when Solana rolled around, and we saw these high-throughput, fast transactions for very low fees, did it start making sense to put [trading cards] on the blockchain and allow for the system that we see today,” Campbell said.
About 30% of Collector Crypt users redeem their cards at some point, taking the physical asset home from the vault; the rest trade the onchain version.
This model has a practical advantage over traditional secondary markets. On eBay, sellers face a 14% fee, while buyers have to pay cross-border import costs and take on the risk of items getting damaged during transit. On Collector Crypt, Campbell says, sellers receive 85% to 93% of a card's value, and the marketplace charges a 2% fee.
Collector Crypt also integrates with DeFi protocols on Solana. Campbell said the platform uses Jupiter and Loopscale, allowing users to borrow against their tokenized card holdings. "When you bring these things onchain, you're trading the digital deed," Campbell said. "You can take out a loan against it now."
Collector Crypt by the numbers
$100M in revenue in 24hrs on June 10
$1.2 billion in volume since $2.5K gacha machine launch on June 10
$37M dollars of tokenized onchain inventory
The Biggest Updates on Solana
Look into the biggest announcements, developments and more happening within the Solana ecosystem.
World Series of Poker players can buy into tournaments using Solana via Moonpay. Stablecoin payouts are slated for launch in December
The Solana Foundation launched Frontier Traders, a VIP program based on a trader’s onchain activity and volume, that gives members trading rewards rebates and priority RPC
SpaceX’s shares were tokenized on Solana via Backpack, Ondo Global Markets, xStocks, Byreal, and Sunrise
Securitize’s AAA collateralized loan obligations tokenized fund expanded to Solana, bringing $250M in RWA value to the network, and increasing the total value to $2.95B
Helius acquired Light Protocol, a privacy company that built Solana’s Zero Knowledge syscalls and Zero Knowledge Compression
That’s all for now. Catch you again next month!
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.