Pokemon cards have now surpassed luxury watches as a leading tool to discreetly move money across borders.

In the luxury watch world, the Richard Mille craze really started as a popular way to launder money. The brand is known for their eye-popping values; the equivalent of wearing a house on your wrist.

The idea is simple. Use the watch as an exchange of value in one country. Put it on your wrist, fly to another country, and liquidate it. Tax free.

But Richard Mille watches are bulky. And now we're seeing customs really cracking down on watches moving across country lines. So this crowd has now shifted into smaller watches because they're easier to carry and less noticeable.

But an even bigger shift has happened and that's using Pokemon trading cards as a vehicle for tax-free wealth transfer across borders.

This is the first time we've seen trading cards (at this scale) used as a tool to capture value in one country, and avoid taxation in another. Pokemon trading cards already show signs of being a very legitimate alternative asset. Now they're the target of sophisticated crowds who are using them to stay one step ahead of customs and taxation laws.

Did you ever think that pack of Pokemon mom got you back in the day could turn into this?