NFC Authenticators Launches Anti-Counterfeit Slab Verification Platform

Next Frontier Certifications, operating as NFC Authenticators, announced a new chip-based authentication platform for graded trading cards on May 4. The Marietta, Georgia company says the system is designed to help collectors verify slabs and identify counterfeit holders.

The company is led by founder Christopher Longshore, a 34-year veteran of the sports card business. Longshore plans to unveil the next phase of the technology on May 16.

According to the company, the platform pairs embedded NFC tags on graded slabs with a digital record system. Collectors would scan a slab with a mobile device to confirm authenticity and pull up its certification history.

Longshore has said the company is also building toward tokenized digital ownership records, citing growing complaints over copied labels and replica holders sold on secondary markets.

NFC Authenticators is headquartered at Dream Creative Space, located at 861 Washington Avenue NE in Marietta. The facility houses an ultrasonic welder used to seal slabs and a Plexi bender for removing graded cards from existing holders, equipment Longshore has described as central to the company's slab-handling operations.

Longshore began dealing cards at age 15 in the early 1990s and operated three retail stores across the South during that decade, sourcing inventory directly from Topps and Leaf.

NFC technology is not new to the broader collectibles market. Coin grader PCGS introduced embedded NFC chips into all of its holders in 2020 and has continued to expand the program.

Trading card grading firms have not yet adopted a comparable mainstream platform. PSA, which controls roughly 80 percent of the trading card grading market following its 2025 acquisition of Beckett Grading Services, has not announced an NFC-based slab program.

Counterfeit PSA and BGS slabs have been an ongoing concern in the hobby. Replica holders containing trimmed, altered, or relabeled cards have surfaced in online resale channels, and grading companies have intermittently issued advisories about copied flips.

The company has not disclosed pricing, slab capacity, or partnerships with manufacturers, dealers, or auction houses. It is also unclear whether the system will be made available to collectors with existing PSA, BGS, SGC, or CGC slabs, or limited to NFC Authenticators' own grading service.

The May 16 reveal is expected to clarify the rollout. Authentication remains one of the most contested points in the trading card market as the volume of high-dollar slabs continues to grow.