XPUNKs creator Kaj Leroy says Web3 trading card games are headed for a boom
In brief
- XPUNKs creator Kaj Leroy predicts a Web3 trading card game boom, according to U.Today.
- Mainstream users want physical cards they can hold, not PFP price charts, Leroy argues.
- Leroy cited Fuzzycards, his own XRP Ledger project, as an example.
- TCG ETFs, funds and big-brand adoption are Leroy's predictions, not announced plans.
Physical cards over PFP charts
Leroy's pitch isn't complicated. Trading cards have existed for over a century, he said, and the new part is crypto picking them up. He argued the mass market needs tangible assets that people can easily understand and physically hold, and he said the rest of the market is missing that trend.
U.Today's report said physical cards and opening real booster packs keep users engaged over the long term, building stronger community bonds than watching PFP collection price charts.
He's not a neutral observer, though.
Leroy cited his own hybrid project, Fuzzycards on the XRP Ledger, which he said issued about 100,000 booster packs that NFT holders burned to receive physical cards. U.Today also pointed to Yuga Labs launching Mudwater cards on Solana, where each real pack in storage is tied to an NFT, as a sign the idea reaches past the XRP ecosystem.
Why it's hard to build
"The hardest part isn't the art or the hype. It's building a game that's actually fun and actually works."
Leroy said the complexity of building a blockchain TCG acts as a natural defense against quick speculative projects. The math is part of it. According to the article, balancing a game takes significant resources, since a 150-card deck can produce more combinations than there are atoms in the observable universe.
Logistics matter too. Leroy said projects that got a head start on development have an edge in logistics and production, because physical products take far longer than anything onchain (minting a token and printing a booster pack don't run on the same clock).
Forecasts, not plans
Leroy predicted that other major brands (Mario, Harry Potter and Tolkien's Middle-earth) would move their TCGs onchain to control the secondary market. He also said TCG ETFs, hedge funds and VCs would follow and that the market was about to grow significantly.
Those are Leroy's views as quoted by U.Today. They're forecasts from a builder whose own project sits inside the sector he's describing, not announced moves by any fund, issuer or brand.
