The 2026 FIFA World Cup generated $20 billion in prediction market volume and $24 million in digital collectible trades, with only 1% linked to illicit sources, according to a new report from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
Chainalysis published a report titled “The 2026 World Cup On-Chain,” in which it identified this year’s FIFA World Cup as “one of the biggest-ever sporting events as measured by on-chain activity.”
Specifically, it found that the tournament generated $20 billion in prediction market volume from January 2026 onward and $24 million in collectible trading volume since May 2025, with over 400,000 wallets participating in blockchain-based betting throughout the tournament, generating $5.7 billion in trading volume.
Depending on how one feels about the ethics of sports betting and prediction markets—the latter of which has made some bad headlines of late—these stats represent a win for blockchain activity, and for the blockchain-based gambling market in particular.
Added to this success is that less than 1% of bettor wallets showed illicit ties, with only $5.4 million in flows from sanctioned sources—the single-largest source being Huobi/HTX, the China-founded exchange controlled by Hong Kong-based billionaire Justin Sun, which the European Union recently sanctioned for allegedly facilitating Russian sanctions evasion.
Chainalysis said this low percentage of illicit activity highlighted that “the vast majority of on-chain activity was driven by legitimate fans.”
Ronaldo’s tears and NFT trinkets
In terms of what people were betting on, so-called “key storylines”—such as, “who will win the World Cup?”—saw the most activity, but other niche questions also attracted millions of dollars.
Chainalysis gave the example of one memorable market that asked bettors whether they thought soon-to-retire Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo would cry at the end of his campaign. Somewhat predictably—if you’ve ever watched CR7 at a major tournament before—he did, which generated $49 million in volume.
Overall, across all markets—novelty or otherwise—55% of bettors came out ahead, and of that group, 79% were experienced prediction market prognosticators.
But beyond prediction markets, another on-chain enterprise also capitalized on FIFA’s global reach: digital collectibles. The “FIFA Collect” platform, set up by football’s governing body before the tournament, allowed fans to buy and sell digital moments commemorating the tournament’s biggest stars.
According to Chainalysis, the platform also served as a less-discussed access point to the tournament itself, with collectors able to turn their digital trinkets into real-world tickets or buy access to the games from other collectors on secondary markets.
“FIFA’s official ‘FIFA Collect’ platform demonstrated the practical utility of blockchain by allowing 100,000 fans to secure match tickets through digital assets,” read the report. “The platform’s strict KYC [know-your-customer] protocols resulted in negligible exposure to illicit funds compared to decentralized prediction markets.”
Based on data reviewed, the report revealed that this “stablecoin-powered economy” generated at least $24 million before and during the World Cup, suggesting that: “While the sum is hardly a show-stopper when compared to other major moneymakers, its modest success may hint at the shape of things to come.”
A growing market, but caution should remain
The report painted a picture of a growing space that is already making its mark on the biggest stage imaginable.
“The relative success of FIFA Collect and the record-smashing volumes put up by prediction markets point to a future where major global events increasingly play out on-chain,” said Chainalysis. “Together, these two case studies illustrate both the promise and the challenge of crypto’s expanding role in mainstream events: open platforms can unlock massive global participation, but without robust compliance controls, they also open the door to abuse.”
However, this optimism should be tempered with due caution, as the report also made clear that, even bearing in mind the low percentage of overall activity it represents, illicit finance remains a problem.
“Even amid the tournament’s overwhelmingly legitimate activity, our analysis surfaced wallets with direct ties to illicit actors,” read the report.
As on-chain economies continue to move into the mainstream, with regulation and legislation increasingly catching up with blockchain technology, the ability to trace, attribute, and assess illicit flows is and will continue to improve. But work remains to be done, and Chainalysis urged vigilance and a redoubling of efforts to eliminate illicit finance from the space entirely.
“The World Cup offers a microcosm of crypto’s expanding role in everyday life, and a preview of why the tools to follow the money will need to keep pace,” said the firm.
For FIFA, despite announcing record $15 billion revenues from the 2026 World Cup and discovering new and potentially lucrative markets, such as non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles, the governing body’s hierarchy has seemingly decided that there is more money to be made, which landed the ever-controversial organization in a new scandal this week.
FIFA in the spotlight
With billions of people globally tuning in to the 2026 FIFA World Cup—held jointly by the United States, Mexico, and Canada this June and July—in a very real sense, all eyes have been on FIFA in recent months.
For an organization with a proven track record of corruption at the highest levels, this is not necessarily a good thing, which makes FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s decision to choose this moment to reveal his most controversial plan to date all the more strange.
Last week, FIFA announced it was working with U.S. bank JPMorgan (NASDAQ: JPM) on a plan to create a $20 billion subsidiary—to be called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE)—to run the World Cup and its other events and will offer stakes of up to 20% in the commercial rights of the men’s and women’s World Cups, and the Club World Cup to investors.
Infantino said the plan would see “the commercial side of the game [operating] as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world.”
If selling a stake in FIFA competitions to private investors wasn’t controversial enough, the entity reportedly set to lead the search for investors would be Thrive Capital, an investment company founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son‑in-law Jared Kushner.
The unveiling of the controversial plan provoked an immediate and severe backlash from global football governing bodies, leading clubs, and politicians, not least the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)—the football governing bodies of Europe, North and Central America, and Asia, respectively.
Not mincing words, UEFA is accusing FIFA of “attempting to sell the soul of football,” while Concacaf and the AFC voiced concerns about the governance and decision-making framework that led to the plan being announced without due process.
On July 30, UEFA held an emergency meeting in which its 54 members unanimously voted for the extraordinary step of boycotting all FIFA competitors if Infantino’s plan went ahead. This was shortly followed by Concacaf, whose 41 members stopped short of a full boycott but voted unanimously to reject the plan; and then the AFC, whose 46 members released a joint statement saying it “stands in solidarity” with UEFA and Concacaf in opposition to FIFA’s proposal.
Infantino’s plan is still subject to approval by a “majority” of FIFA member associations, so with these three governing bodies and their combined 136 votes all against the idea, it seems unlikely it will have the required majority to pass.
Nevertheless, the attempt alone may be enough to inspire serious change in how FIFA operates, and persuade the scandal-ridden body to focus on less controversial money-spinning schemes, such as further embracing the barely-tapped potential of the blockchain space.
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