GEN Z AND HARD ASSETS

 

29-year-old Blake Martinez quit the NFL to sell Pokémon cards.

his business brought in $5 million in just 7 months

After selling a poikemon card for nearly $700,000, Linebacker Blake Martinez realized he could make more money selling pokemon cards than being a starting linebacker in the NFL.  He quit his day job, and so far has done quite well.

I know Blake Martinez because he was a tackling machine for the NY Giants.  Not the most atheltic - but brilliant at reading offenses and knowing just where to be.  He was the glue for a good Giants Defense.

I don't know anything about pokemon cards. But I do know comic books, trading cards, video games and all sorts of popular entertainment Hard Assets are bringing the same kind of money at auction as Fine Art, Collector Cars, and Rare Wines.

The fact is anything Real, Meaning Non-Digital - stuff that will continue to exist if all the electricity in the world were shut off - is beginning to appeal to the digital generation just as it does to the older generation that understands the value of Real Things from long experience.

As it begins to sink in even for gen z that all the crazy electronic fads - robin hood, crypto, NFTs, are being run by scammers, against whom there is little to no recourse once their precious electronic chits have magically disappeared into the ether; and now even Gen Z is investing in Real Things that have some cultural resonance for them.

Will Pokemon Cards still be worth something in 20 years?  I have no idea.  I don't understand what they are, so I wouldn't buy them.  But if there is a hard asset you do understand, I would bet - I am betting - it will accrue far more value over the next 20 years than any electronic asset.

Because when you own a Hard Asset, you can sell it for a fair market price, and it can't be front-run, hypothicated, hacked, bundled into some complex obligation, diluted, or simply moved into someone else's electronic account.  

And that type of security will be increasingly worth a premium even over the intrinsic value.  Even Gen Z is begining to undsertand that.