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The 2026 FIFA World Cup opened in Toronto on Thursday night with Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna and Canadian artist Jessie Reyez performing “Illuminate” at BMO Field. But for the crypto industry, the real headline was everything happening around the pitch, not on it.
Three days before the opening ceremony, FIFA announced Kraken as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the tournament. Chainlink is powering the event’s official prediction markets. Chiliz is running fan tokens. And Avalanche is hosting FIFA’s blockchain platform. For a sport that reaches roughly half the planet’s population, that is an extraordinary amount of crypto infrastructure woven into a single event.
The biggest stage crypto has ever had
The 2026 World Cup is the first edition to feature 48 teams, expanding from the traditional 32. It’s co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, spanning three countries and dozens of venues.
Kraken’s role as official crypto exchange supporter, announced on June 9, positions the San Francisco-based exchange in front of billions of cumulative viewers over the course of the tournament.
Chainlink, Chiliz, and the fan engagement play
Chainlink’s involvement is the most technically interesting piece of the puzzle. The oracle network is facilitating the World Cup’s official prediction markets, meaning its infrastructure is processing real-world match data and feeding it into on-chain systems.
Chiliz is operating in territory it knows well. The company behind Socios.com has been selling fan tokens for European football clubs for years. The World Cup gives Chiliz a chance to scale that model to a global audience rather than club-specific fanbases. Fan tokens let holders vote on minor club decisions and access exclusive content.
Avalanche’s role hosting FIFA’s blockchain platform rounds out the stack. The Layer 1 network provides the settlement layer underneath these various fan-facing products, handling the transaction throughput that a global event demands.
What this means for investors
Chainlink’s LINK token underpins actual prediction market infrastructure. Chiliz’s CHZ token powers actual fan token ecosystems. Avalanche’s AVAX processes actual transactions. If usage metrics spike during the tournament, that creates a fundamentals-based case rather than a hype-based one.
The tournament runs through mid-July. That is a month-long window where crypto infrastructure will be tested at a scale it has never experienced in the sports context.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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