According to CoinMeta, the trading volume of the 2026 World Cup prediction market reached a record $20 billion, encompassing activities involving nearly 400,000 wallets. According to a report by the blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the trading volume during the tournament peaked at $5.7 billion. The market's topics ranged from who would win the international football championship to whether Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo would cry when his team was eliminated (which he indeed did). This World Cup became the prediction market event with the highest trading volume to date, breaking the previous record of $3.6 billion set during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Other notable events included Super Bowl 60 in February and a basketball championship covered by NCAA, both of which surpassed $1 billion in trading volume. Prediction markets offer derivative contracts that predict the outcomes of future events and are settled once these events occur. The market leader, Polymarket, operates on the blockchain, with transactions and settlements conducted using the stablecoin USDC.