FIFA World Cup 2026 becomes crypto’s biggest mainstream stage as Kraken scores official partnership

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is doing something no previous edition has managed: turning the world’s biggest sporting event into a legitimate crypto onramp. Kraken was named the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the tournament on June 9, making it the first major exchange to lock down a direct FIFA partnership of this kind. The deal positions Kraken front and center across a tournament spanning 48 teams and 16 host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. New survey data floating around claims 33% of US men are tuning into the World Cup as first-time fans, though that figure hasn’t been verified by any major polling outfit. What Kraken’s FIFA deal actually looks like The partnership includes ticket giveaways and trading competitions, with the campaign set to wrap around mid-July 2026. Kraken’s approach ties promotions directly to fan engagement and trading activity rather than buying brand awareness through naming rights. The implicit bet is that millions of casual viewers, many of whom may have never opened a crypto exchange account, will download the app for a chance at World Cup tickets. The memecoin circus has already arrived Because this is crypto, the World Cup hype has predictab...