Olivier Giroud, France’s World Cup-winning striker, has thrown his support behind Christian Pulisic as the player who could unlock the USA’s hopes at this summer’s 2026 World Cup. The two share history as teammates at both Chelsea and AC Milan, and Giroud’s endorsement carries weight given his own experience lifting the trophy in 2018.
But here’s the thing: Giroud isn’t just a retired footballer offering punditry from his couch. He’s now the global brand ambassador for BitradeX, an AI-driven cryptocurrency trading platform, featured in its campaign films. And Pulisic himself has a footprint in the digital asset space through blockchain-based NFT trading cards. The overlap between football and crypto at this World Cup isn’t incidental. It’s becoming structural.
Crypto’s biggest sporting stage yet
FIFA announced Kraken as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter for the 2026 World Cup on June 9, 2026. That makes it the first partnership of its kind in World Cup history.
Meanwhile, Chiliz and its Socios platform continue to dominate the football fan-token space. Chiliz operates the largest fan-token platform in football, and the World Cup represents prime real estate for expanding that model. While no official USMNT fan token has been launched yet, discussions around national team tokens on platforms like Socios have been building.
