When Spain and Belgium face off at SoFi Stadium on July 10 in the World Cup quarterfinal, they won’t just be competing for a semifinal spot. They’ll be the centerpiece of crypto’s most ambitious mainstream play to date, a tournament where fan tokens swing on match results, digital collectibles run on Avalanche, and the exchange facilitating it all just became the first crypto sponsor in FIFA history.
Kraken breaks new ground with FIFA partnership
On June 9, Kraken became FIFA’s first Official Crypto Exchange Supporter. The partnership is deliberately focused on education and fan engagement rather than launching a native tournament token. The target markets are North America and Europe, which tracks with the tournament being hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico. With projected viewership expected to surpass six billion globally for the expanded 48-team format, the eyeball count alone makes this arguably the highest-visibility crypto integration ever attempted in sports.
Fan tokens are already moving
Spain’s National Team Fan Token launched on June 16 and has already surged approximately 54% following the team’s advancement through the tournament’s knockout rounds. Belgium’s fan token, trading under $BELG, launched earlier and has also posted notable price gains as the team progressed.
