Kraken becomes the official crypto exchange of the 2026 World Cup, while FIFA outfits referees with body cameras for live first-person views.
FIFA will strap cameras to referees' temples at the 2026 World Cup. Every match will feature the technology, following approval from the International Football Association Board. Kraken, meanwhile, locked in a deal as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the tournament.
Small cameras mounted near each referee's temples will stream a live perspective to broadcast feeds. FIFA tested the technology during the 2025 Club World Cup and came away satisfied enough to greenlight it for the main event. The cameras were refined based on feedback from that trial run.
Each stadium will feature 16 optical tracking cameras and AI-powered 3D player avatars. Semi-automated offside technology will also be in place. The total broadcast setup will include over 45 cameras per match. A typical Premier League broadcast uses around 20 to 30 cameras.
Semi-automated offside technology, which debuted at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, uses limb-tracking data to generate near-instant offside decisions. The 2026 version builds on that foundation with AI-generated player avatars that can reconstruct plays in three dimensions for broadcast replays.
On June 9–10, 2026, Kraken was named the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the tournament. The partnership is focused on fan engagement rather than blockchain integration into match officiating or ticketing. Kraken is tying itself to specific fan-facing activations around the tournament, including the World Cup Countdown Concert series.
The 2022 World Cup drew an estimated 5 billion viewers. FIFA projects the 2026 edition, co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico with an expanded 48-team format, will reach approximately six billion.
The partnership comes after a period of retrenchment in crypto sports sponsorships following FTX's collapse in 2022. Coinbase has its NBA deal. Crypto.com has its UFC and Formula 1 partnerships. Kraken now has the World Cup, which in terms of raw global viewership dwarfs all of those properties combined.
Kraken is a private company. Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.