The 2026 FIFA World Cup drove $20 billion in blockchain-based prediction market volume and $24 million in digital collectible trades, with more than 400,000 wallets participating in blockchain-based betting, according to a report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The $5.7 billion in bets placed by bettors during the five-week World Cup itself is included in the $20 billion number, which also covers trading before and throughout the competition. According to the research, almost 63% of all prediction market activity at that time was tied to the World Cup.
With the exception of Antarctica, users from every continent took part in World Cup prediction markets, according to Chainalysis. The United States and China produced the largest attributed trade volumes, followed by Canada, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Even though there was a lot of betting, there wasn’t much illegal behavior. Chainalysis found about $5.4 million in flows coming from sanctioned businesses and other illegal sources, while less than 1% of wallets involved in World Cup prediction markets had connections to illegal actors.
The increasing use of blockchain-based digital collectibles was also noted in the research. Over 100,000 match tickets were provided via the program, and fans exchanged FIFA Collect NFTs worth over $24 million during the competition. Less than 0.01% of FIFA Collect users had wallets connected to sanctioned organizations, which Chainalysis partially ascribed to the platform’s identification verification measures.
According to Chainalysis, the results highlight the significance of compliance procedures as platforms draw wider participation and indicate that blockchain will play an increasing role in significant international events.
The 2026 World Cup brought major action to the blockchain. We tracked $20 billion in prediction market volume and over 400,000 active betting wallets during the tournament. Read our full breakdown of the World Cup on-chain: https://t.co/Bm08IAhO9I pic.twitter.com/Na5OPxFghl
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) July 30, 2026
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