Panini Blockchain is Panini America’s NFT platform for officially licensed digital trading cards, letting collectors buy, own, and trade verifiably authentic digital versions of Panini’s sports cards — some paired with a redeemable physical card. Panini NFT drops have become a regular fixture for collectors since the platform launched in 2019, processing over $166 million in all-time sales across more than 65,000 unique buyers. But the ground under it has shifted: Panini’s NBA license transferred to Fanatics in October 2025, and its NFL license expired on March 31, 2026, meaning two of the leagues that built Panini Blockchain’s early appeal are no longer part of it. This guide breaks down how the platform actually works, what you can still get on it, and what its licensing losses mean for collectors going forward.
Key Takeaways
- Panini Blockchain is Panini America’s NFT trading card platform, launched in 2019 and built on Hyperledger Sawtooth, a permissioned (private) blockchain.
- The platform has processed more than $166 million in all-time sales across over 65,000 unique buyers as of early 2026.
- Panini’s NBA license transferred to Fanatics in October 2025, and its NFL license expired March 31, 2026 — both major US sports licenses that once anchored the platform are gone.
- Panini’s 50-year FIFA partnership, renewed in December 2023, remains active and covers the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, making soccer the platform’s clearest remaining major-league content source.
- Some premium releases pair a digital NFT with a redeemable physical card, and the platform includes both a primary drop marketplace and a collector-to-collector secondary market.
What Is Panini Blockchain?
Panini Blockchain is a blockchain-based NFT platform Panini America launched in 2019 to bring its trading card business into the digital world. Each NFT issued on the platform carries a tamper-proof authenticity record tied to Panini’s licensing and content pipeline, and the platform was designed to be usable by ordinary sports fans rather than blockchain specialists — there’s no need to set up an external crypto wallet or understand blockchain mechanics to buy, hold, or trade a card.
What Blockchain Does Panini Use?
Panini Blockchain runs on Hyperledger Sawtooth, a permissioned (private) blockchain — a meaningful difference from public blockchains like Ethereum or Bitcoin, where anyone can view every transaction on a public blockchain explorer. On a permissioned chain, Panini controls who can validate transactions, which lets the company enforce authenticity guarantees at scale while keeping the user experience closer to a traditional e-commerce platform than a crypto exchange.
How Panini Blockchain Works
The platform has two main components:
Primary marketplace. New officially licensed NFT releases go on sale directly through Panini’s drop schedule, often via Dutch auction, where the price starts high and decreases over time until buyers step in.
Secondary marketplace. Once a drop sells out, collectors can trade, buy, or auction their NFTs with each other. A built-in wallet handles the technical side, so users can participate without managing their own crypto wallet or private keys separately.
Some premium and 1-of-1 releases include a free physical trading card alongside the digital NFT — a “phygital” model that’s become more common across the sports collectibles industry, with the broader hybrid NFT card market estimated around $5.6 billion.
What’s Happening With Panini’s Sports League Licenses?
This is the most important thing to understand about Panini Blockchain in its current state. Panini had been the NBA’s exclusive trading card licensee since the 2009-10 season and the NFL’s since 2016, but both relationships have now ended:
- NBA: Panini’s license transferred to Fanatics in October 2025.
- NFL: Panini’s exclusive license expired March 31, 2026; Fanatics-owned Topps became the exclusive NFL card licensee starting April 1, 2026.
Both losses trace back to Fanatics locking up long-term league and players’-association deals starting in 2021, a move Panini has challenged in federal antitrust litigation that remains ongoing. Panini can still produce cards featuring NBA and NFL players’ likenesses through separate agreements outside the league and players’ association structure, but without official league or team branding — meaning new NBA- and NFL-themed Panini Blockchain drops going forward won’t carry the same licensed status as the platform’s earlier releases.
The clearest bright spot: Panini’s FIFA partnership, renewed for 50 years in December 2023, remains fully intact and covers official stickers, trading cards, and digital collectibles through both the 2026 and 2030 World Cups. For now, soccer is Panini Blockchain’s strongest major-league content pipeline.
Is Panini Blockchain Worth It for Collectors?
Pros: verifiable authenticity backed by a licensing pipeline, easier liquidity than mailing physical cards for grading or resale, an active secondary market, and a continuing FIFA partnership through 2030.
Cons: the loss of NBA and NFL licensing removes two of the platform’s biggest historical demand drivers going forward; value is tied to speculative NFT and collectibles demand that can swing sharply; and not every card gets the hybrid physical-plus-digital treatment.
Existing NBA and NFL cards purchased while those licenses were active remain legitimate collectibles from that licensed era — the license change affects what Panini can release going forward, not the authenticity of cards already issued.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Panini Blockchain the same as a cryptocurrency?
No. Panini Blockchain is an NFT platform for digital trading cards, not a cryptocurrency you can trade for other assets. It runs on Hyperledger Sawtooth, a permissioned blockchain used specifically to verify authenticity and ownership of digital collectibles, rather than a public network with its own tradable coin the way Bitcoin or Ethereum operate.
Do you need a crypto wallet to use Panini Blockchain?
No. The platform includes built-in wallet functionality designed to abstract away blockchain complexity for mainstream collectors, so you can buy, hold, and trade NFTs directly through Panini's interface without setting up, funding, or managing a separate external crypto wallet or private keys yourself.
Can you redeem a physical card from a Panini Blockchain NFT?
Sometimes. Select premium and 1-of-1 releases pair a digital NFT with a free redeemable physical card as part of the drop, giving collectors both a digital and physical version of the same card. This isn't standard across every release, though, so it's worth checking each product's specific details before assuming physical redemption is included.
Does Panini Blockchain still have NBA and NFL licenses?
No. Panini's NBA license transferred to Fanatics in October 2025, and its exclusive NFL license expired March 31, 2026, with Fanatics-owned Topps taking over as the exclusive NFL card licensee. Panini's 50-year FIFA partnership, covering the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, remains active and is currently its strongest major-league licensing relationship.
