The 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 is officially underway, with matchups including Canada vs. Morocco and Paraguay vs. France kicking off on July 4.
Prediction markets are having their World Cup moment
Kalshi recorded $30 billion in trading volume during June 2026. Polymarket, the decentralized prediction platform that first gained mainstream attention during the 2024 US presidential election, hit $10.8 billion over the same period. Both figures are historic highs, driven overwhelmingly by World Cup-related betting activity.
The platform supports deposits and settlements using USDC on the Polygon network, meaning every World Cup wager is effectively a stablecoin transaction running on Ethereum’s Layer 2 infrastructure.
Kraken breaks new ground as FIFA’s crypto partner
