As the 2026 World Cup approaches, the global sports industry, brand marketing, and the cryptocurrency sector are reshaping their strategies around the commercial opportunities behind this largest global sporting event. The World Cup is not only a carnival for fans but also a top window for brands to reach billions of users worldwide, and Binance, as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, is quietly setting its sights on this milestone.
Since the World Cup market started on December 19, it has been almost a month. Compared to previous years, a notable characteristic of this market trend is: the number of participants has significantly increased, everyone is consciously preparing in advance, liquidity is insufficient, and the difficulty of market speculation has noticeably risen.
However, an increase in difficulty does not mean that opportunities disappear.
The World Cup is a top-tier sporting event held every four years. Looking at market trends, there is a high probability of another small peak within the next three months.
The historical pattern of the World Cup held every four years
Looking back at the 2022 World Cup, the timing pattern of fan tokens is actually quite clear.
The competition starts in November, with May being a relatively low entry point. Most fan tokens typically peak about three months in advance, and this year the World Cup starts in June. Based on the timing structure, we are currently in the pre-heating + expectation game phase.
What are the layout directions for Binance's fan token sector?
1. Popular public chains $CHZ
Chz's current total staking amount is close to 2.6 billion, accounting for about 25% of the total supply. This February marks the 8th anniversary, and Chiliz 2030 will be launched soon. There is a potential expectation for a price increase. The Chz chain will soon introduce some World Cup national team tokens, and a deal has already been reached with one of them. It is highly likely that the subscription process will be similar to the issuance of Arg and Por in 2021, using Chz for subscription. If one can grab the public sale price, there is a good chance of multiplying returns.
2. Four fan tokens with contracts, all of which had multiple rallies last year, predicting the main upward wave is on the way.
BSC Football Representative: $SANTOS
CHZ Football Representative: $ASR
F1 Formula Racing Representative: ALPINE
Gaming esports representative: OG
3. The FUN recently launched by Binance Alpha: an extended version of the fan token narrative
FUN is not a traditional fan token, but rather a combination of: sports predictions + event participation + reward mechanisms: sports + Web3 assets. Its market value has dropped to around 10 million, with the prediction market + sports event narrative already on Binance contracts, and the product has data support with expectations for spot market introduction.
In the last cycle, the sports event predictions related to Binance were pros, and the project was taken down after the price was pumped and dumped. Fun can be seen as its alternative. The reason behind Binance choosing this moment to launch is worth pondering.
The World Cup fan token is one of the few hot mainline markets this year, and also one of the few certain opportunities in the first half of the year. Binance is likely to take further actions, and looking back at today's prices in March-April may bring surprises.