CORNERFLICK
The 2026 World Cup became the biggest event yet for prediction markets and NFT-style digital collections, according to Chainalysis. The firm said tournament-related activity reached $20bn in trading volume, including both pre-tournament and in-competition transactions.
Prediction markets surged during the tournament
About $5.7bn was placed across prediction markets during the five-week run of the competition. Chainalysis said World Cup-linked markets accounted for 63% of all activity in the sector over that period.
The company also said more than 400,000 crypto wallets took part in blockchain-based wagering during the tournament. Users from every continent except Antarctica were involved, with the US and China posting the largest trading volumes, followed by Canada, Thailand and Britain.
Digital collectibles and ticketing also grew
Fans traded $24m in digital collectibles on FIFA Collect, while more than 100,000 match tickets were distributed through the same infrastructure.
Chainalysis said illicit activity remained limited. It said fewer than 1% of active wallets were linked to illegal actors, although analysts identified about $5.4m in transactions tied to sanctioned entities and other illicit sources. In FIFA Collect, wallets linked to sanctioned entities accounted for less than 0.01% of users, which Chainalysis attributed largely to the platform’s identity checks.