Quick Read
- Logan Paul sold his Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card for a record $16.49 million.
- The card was purchased by A.J. Scaramucci, son of Anthony Scaramucci.
- The sale set a new Guinness World Record for the most expensive trading card ever sold.
- Paul originally bought the card for $5.3 million in July 2021.
- The card’s prior tokenization on Paul’s Liquid Marketplace platform faced securities law violations.
NEW YORK (Azat TV) – YouTube sensation and WWE performer Logan Paul has shattered records in the collectibles market, selling his rare Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card for an astonishing $16.49 million. The sale, which concluded on Monday, February 16, 2026, at Goldin Auctions, marks the highest price ever paid for any trading card, surpassing previous records and generating significant discussion, particularly due to the card’s controversial history with Paul’s now-defunct Liquid Marketplace platform.
The highly sought-after Pikachu Illustrator PSA 10 card was purchased by A.J. Scaramucci, a venture capitalist and the son of SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci. Scaramucci, who is reportedly on a ‘planetary treasure hunt,’ stated that the Pokémon card was ‘only the beginning’ of his quest for unique collectibles, according to collectibles reporter Ben Burrows. Paul personally handed the card, encased in a diamond-encrusted necklace he famously wore during his WWE debut at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, to the winning bidder.
Logan Paul’s Record-Breaking Pokémon Card Sale
Paul originally acquired the Pikachu Illustrator card in July 2021 for $5.3 million, a sum that itself set a Guinness World Record at the time for a Pokémon card. The recent sale represents an estimated $8 million profit for Paul, an amount he described as ‘absolutely insane’ during a livestream of the auction’s final hours on his YouTube channel, which boasts over 23.6 million subscribers. Guinness World Records adjudicator Sarah Casson was present to certify the new record, confirming it as the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction, as reported by AP News.
The Pikachu Illustrator card is exceptionally rare; released in 1998, only 39 copies were officially distributed. Paul’s card holds a PSA 10 rating, signifying its virtually perfect condition with sharp corners, full original gloss, and no visible defects, a factor that significantly contributed to its immense value. Paul expressed his sentiments on Instagram, bidding farewell to what he called the ‘greatest collectible in the world’ and reflecting on its journey alongside him through various milestones.
Controversy Surrounding Liquid Marketplace
The record-breaking sale has also brought renewed scrutiny to Paul’s past ventures in the crypto and collectibles space. Shortly after purchasing the card in 2021, Paul raised $8 million to launch Liquid Marketplace, a platform designed for tokenizing physical and digital collectibles, allowing fractional ownership. In the summer of 2022, he offered up to 51% of the Illustrator card for sale on the platform.
However, Liquid Marketplace, Paul, and others faced severe legal challenges. In 2024, Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) charged them with multiple violations of securities law, including allegations of deceiving investors, failing to register properly, and personal misuse of funds, as detailed by The Block. Paul addressed the controversy on X (formerly Twitter), stating that only 5.4% of the card was initially sold on Liquid Marketplace for approximately $270,000 to fractional owners associated with the platform. He clarified that in May 2024, he bought back the card at the original fractional sale price, making funds available for users to withdraw.
Addressing Withdrawal Issues and Investor Concerns
Paul further explained that while many fractional owners did withdraw their funds, the Liquid Marketplace site later went offline due to reasons ‘outside of my control.’ Upon learning that users could no longer access their funds, Paul said he personally paid to restore the site. He confirmed that users have since been able to withdraw their funds from liquidmarketplace.io and were notified via email. This transparent communication aims to mitigate concerns from the crypto community and former investors who had been critical of the platform’s handling of assets.
The sale highlights the continued surge in value for rare Pokémon cards and the growing intersection of celebrity influence, high-stakes collecting, and the evolving digital asset landscape. While Paul’s card commanded an unprecedented price, its journey from fractional ownership to a record-setting private sale underscores the complexities and risks inherent in the tokenization of physical assets, even as the broader collectibles market, including Solana-based TCG marketplaces like Collector Crypt, continues to see significant volume.
The record-breaking sale of Logan Paul’s Pikachu Illustrator card not only solidifies its status as a premier collectible but also serves as a potent reminder of the volatile yet lucrative nature of celebrity-backed ventures in the digital and physical asset markets.