Logan Paul issues statement after controversy surrounding '$100m' Pokemon card
Logan Paul has responded to backlash surrounding his record-breaking sale of a rare Pokemon card.
In 2021, Paul forked out $5.275 million on the rare PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card, acquiring the rare collectible from an individual based in Dubai.
The card, the only one of its card receive a perfect grade out of an estimated 41, was exchanged for Paul's PSA 9 edition as well as a $4 million cash payment.
Paul received recognition from the Guinness World Records following a purchase and famously sported the card in a case attached to a diamond chain during his WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38.
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A few years on and he decided to sell up and enlisted the help of Goldin Auctions. The auction took place on Sunday night in Kenilworth, New Jersey and saw a total of 97 bids.
In the end, AJ Scaramucci, the son of former former White House Communications Director Anthony, won with a whopping $16.492 million fee - made up of a $13.3 million bid and a buyer's premium included.
It set a new record as the most expensive trading card of all time and saw Paul make more than $10 million in profit.
A Pokemon fan from being a kid, he appeared on stream and revealed that his purchase was kicking off a "treasure hunt" involving rare collectibles.
Scaramucci also revealed that he felt the card could be worth $100 million one day.
"I think this card is a $100 million card - it just depends how long you want to wait," he told Paul to his face.
"But I've got to tell you, we're printing money like crazy."
However, following on from the historic sale, social media was awash with claims that Paul had acted in shady fashion.
Why were users furious with Paul after Pokemon sale?
The comments were related to fractional investors who had purchased stakes in the card through Liquid Marketplace, a website which was accused of "multi-layered fraud" by the Ontario Securities Commission in June 2024.
CEO Ryan Bahadori, CTO Amin Nikdel, and former CFO Dennis Domazet were accused of moving around $3 million of investor funds for personal use, while there was also an accusation in relation to the $2.7 million in tokens that the company claimed were unregistered securities and an allegation they told buyers they constituted legal ownership in collectibles.
Paul co-founded the platform in 2022 and in a new statement, revealed he was slated to sell just over half of the Pokemon card only to end up selling around 5% for about $270,000.
He claimed he bought the card back for the same price and he was informed that funds could be withdrawn by those who invested.
The Maverick went on to say that he paid for the site to return when it went down and that users should still able to withdraw funds.
"I had originally offered to sell up to 51% of the Illustrator on Liquid Marketplace but ultimately only 5.4% of the card was sold for about $270k in the Summer of 2022 to fractional owners associated with LM," he explained in a post addressing "concerns regarding the ownership history of the card" following on from his gigantic sale.
"In May 2024, I bought the card back for the same price it was sold for per the terms of LM and made funds available for users to withdraw. I was told that those funds were available to be withdrawn for approximately a year after being deposited in LM users’ accounts, and many of the fractional owners did indeed withdraw those funds during that time.
"For reasons outside of my control, the LM site then went offline. When I learned users could no longer withdraw their funds on LM’s site, I personally paid to get the site back up. Users are now able to withdraw their funds (and they have been) at http://liquidmarketplace.io. They were also notified via e-mail.
"Congrats to the buyer for an iconic purchase the entire world will remember. Although bittersweet, I was proud to be a steward of the greatest collectible in the world for the last 5 years
"May the next Pokemon journey be as delightful as the last…"
The new owner of the card revealed his website and social media handles as he shared plans for a "planetary treasure hunt" and the acquiring of items like a T-Rex fossil and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Topics: Logan Paul, WWE
Josh Lawless