FIFA has announced a new partnership with Kraken, naming the long-running crypto platform the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the tournament. The deal, announced on Tuesday, will focus on raising awareness and driving adoption of crypto assets among football fans across North America and Europe.
Under the deal, both sides are clearly aiming for turning the world’s most-watched sporting event into a global introduction to digital assets. The deal is also bringing fan-first activations and product experiences to the tournament’s passionate audiences.
For the first time, 48 national teams will compete across 104 matches in 16 host cities, stretching from North America’s largest stadiums to some of its most iconic football venues.
Over seven weeks, FIFA expects more than six billion cumulative viewers. That scale is exactly what makes it attractive for a company like Kraken, which has spent more than a decade building crypto infrastructure in more than 190 countries.
Kraken to roll out fan-focused crypto experiences
Kraken’s role won’t be limited to branding. The partnership is designed around fan engagement, bringing crypto-themed experiences, education, and product activations into the football ecosystem. The idea is to meet fans where they already are: watching matches, following players, and participating in the global tournament conversation.
Football, as FIFA points out, is already one of the most borderless cultural forces in the world. It doesn’t need translation. It moves across languages, economies, and political boundaries in a way few other things can.
Kraken is trying to align itself with that same idea, positioning crypto as another system that works globally, without waiting for traditional financial infrastructure to catch up.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of both Kraken and Payward, summed it up rather directly. Football was considered by him as a worldwide collective experience that unites billions of people instantly in one place, sharing the same emotion and culture.
Money for Arjun Sethi had to be available with the same level of openness, instant and without geographical borders; money, according to Arjun Sethi, that could be accessed through any smartphone. The World Cup, he stated, is just an extra stage in proving such an idea.
FIFA’s executives have also embraced the discourse on innovation. For instance, Romy Gai, FIFA’s Chief Business Officer, stressed that such collaborations are essential for the organization when it comes to developing the fan experience in the future.
It goes without saying that FIFA has more reasons to cooperate with Kraken rather than with cryptocurrency per se.
Kraken to roll out fan-focused crypto experiences
The Kraken World Cup programming will premiere in conjunction with FIFA World Cup 2026 Countdown Concert on June 10. The concert is a global event taking place simultaneously in several cities, which seeks to create an atmosphere for the upcoming World Cup.
After that, the company expects a range of activations to be held in different places all over North America and Europe, and their purpose will be to popularize ideas behind digital assets via football-related terminology.
Such an approach corresponds to the current efforts of cryptocurrency businesses to gain new users. Crypto companies no longer target traders explicitly and prefer to position themselves among sports events and celebrities instead.
In this regard, Kraken has already gained experience through its collaboration with football teams such as Tottenham Hotspur FC, Atlético de Madrid, and RB Leipzig, as well as Formula 1 racing via Atlassian Williams Racing team.
The strategy is uniform, connect emotionally first, then physically.
It remains to be seen whether the strategy leads to the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The one thing that is certain is that, unlike other channels, the World Cup provides a global event where people are all paying attention to the same thing. This makes it more of a visibility exercise rather than sponsorship for Kraken.
For FIFA, the strategy reflects an ongoing effort by the organization to move towards making the World Cup a cultural event where sports, technology, and international business intersect.
