> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.market.cards/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.market.cards/welcome-to-market.cards/what-we-are-a-card-trading-platform.md).

# What We Are: A Card Trading Platform

Market.Cards is a platform for "investing in people" — the players you love, and a scarce card that represents them.

Basically, Market.Cards is a card trading platform.

From our perspective, cards emerged as one of the most efficient and scalable primitives among all the assets built around people, enabled by **standardized format, structured issuance mechanisms, and an established pricing system**. Exclusivity, narrative, fandom, and social attention surrounding a character are compressed into a tradable cultural asset — whether tied to a real-world person or a fictional anime character.

We chose the **FIFA World Cup and football** as our starting point primarily for two reasons:

* Top-tier football player cards are currently priced structurally below top-tier basketball cards (about 1/3 to 1/4 of the latter) — we chose to enter through a category with a relatively lower entry price point, which is friendlier to early users;
* Beyond the World Cup, football is supported year-round by the top European leagues, so player performance windows are almost continuous.

Starting from the World Cup, we will gradually expand into other sports, as well as anime / manga, TCG (Trading Card Games), and other card categories built around Characters.


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