News linked to both this project and an event.
five Democratic senators urged a Republican committee chairman on Tuesday to immediately hold hearings to investigate a report that the UAE invested $500 million in the Trump family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.According to reports, an aide to the Abu Dhabi royal family signed an agreement four days before Trump's inauguration last year to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. An advance payment of $218 million has been made to entities linked to Trump and his Middle East diplomat, Steve Witkoff, and their families. The senators confirmed that the backer is UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.Since Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has approved several deals favorable to the UAE, including a $1.4 billion weapons sale in May 2025 and authorization in November to sell 35,000 advanced AI chips worth over $1 billion to UAE-based G42. (financefeeds)
Bybit's goal difference settlement contracts continue to expand, with 18 new group stage contracts added, now open for pre-match trading. This round of listings covers all group stage fixtures, including several high-profile matchups: Ecuador vs Germany (June 26), Norway vs France (June 27), Spain vs Saudi Arabia (June 27), Jordan vs Argentina (June 28), as well as key group stage matches featuring strong teams like Brazil and Portugal.The contracts are benchmarked at 10. A price above 10 favors the home team, while a price below 10 favors the away team. Settlement occurs automatically 130 minutes after the match ends. Real-time trading is supported during the game, with up to 5x leverage and a minimum entry of 10 USDT.
Odaily, U.S. Senate Democrats have sent a letter to Republican leadership demanding an immediate hearing regarding the potential relationship between the Trump family's crypto project, World Liberty Financial, and the Abu Dhabi royal family.This follows a report by the Wall Street Journal that an investment entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, secretly acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. The project is a DeFi and stablecoin venture, with Donald Trump and his three sons listed as advisors.According to the report, the deal was signed by Eric Trump four days before Trump's presidential inauguration in January 2025. The transaction was valued at $500 million, half of which was paid upfront. Approximately $187 million flowed to entities controlled by the Trump family, while at least $31 million went to entities linked to the family of World Liberty co-founder Steve Witkoff. Witkoff was later appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, and his son, Zach Witkoff, currently serves as CEO of World Liberty.The Trump side has stated that Trump was unaware of the $500 million investment and was not directly involved in the daily operations of World Liberty Financial. Democrats argue that the matter involves potential conflicts of interest between the president's family business interests, foreign capital, and government diplomatic roles, and have therefore called on the Republican-led Senate to launch an investigation as soon as possible.
According to the official page, Robinhood has launched WLD.
Gate has completed the upgrade of its prediction market World Cup section, further enhancing the prediction market experience within the tournament context. After upgrading the Gate App to version v8.25.0 or higher, users can enter the World Cup section with one click via a newly added entry on the homepage, quickly viewing match schedules, standings, popular prediction markets, and more, thereby improving the efficiency of tracking and participating in the tournament. This upgrade adds new sections such as historical champions, best players, and news, providing users with references on team historical records, player performance data, and World Cup hot topics. Simultaneously, a team subscription feature has been launched, allowing users to follow specific national teams or subscribe to all World Cup events with one click, to promptly obtain related match and prediction opportunities. The section also adds a page sharing function, making it convenient for users to share match details, leaderboards, and prediction market content.Furthermore, Gate has launched a World Cup-themed leaderboard to centrally showcase traders with outstanding prediction performance related to the World Cup. This is combined with a "Smart Money" feature to help users track the activities of high-win-rate traders. The platform has recently introduced a prediction market trial voucher mechanism, allowing users to experience prediction market trading at zero cost while retaining profit opportunities, further lowering the barrier to participation. Surrounding the World Cup events, Gate has also launched a series of activities such as "Green Pitch Prophet, World Cup Prediction Carnival" and "Gate Prediction Market × World Cup Daily Highlight Matches," releasing a prize pool of over 550,000 USDT. As the first centralized exchange to integrate with Polymarket, Gate continues to promote the deep integration of prediction markets and sports events, further enriching the application scenarios of prediction markets.
a16z crypto posted on the X platform, stating that prediction market open interest reached $1.48 billion in the week ending June 15, hitting a new all-time high for the second consecutive week. Unlike trading volume, which reflects daily activity, open interest tracks the funds participants have deployed and remain at risk. This metric has grown approximately sixfold over the past year, indicating that users are maintaining longer-term financial positions and that prediction markets are evolving into durable market infrastructure. Major events attract a large number of users, and more traders are staying to participate in a wide range of markets covering politics, economics, culture, crypto, and more.Previously, a16z crypto stated that multiple events, including the World Cup, synergized to push prediction market weekly trading volume to a new all-time high of $10.8 billion.
OpenAI has released LifeSciBench, a new evaluation benchmark designed to assess AI systems’ capabilities in real-world scientific research scenarios. LifeSciBench comprises 750 expert-crafted tasks covering seven categories of scientific workflows and seven biology domains. The tasks were contributed by 173 researchers holding doctoral degrees and possessing industry experience in biotechnology or pharmaceuticals. This benchmark emphasizes the assessment of complex scientific research competencies—including evidence integration, experimental design, data analysis, scientific reasoning, and scientific communication—rather than isolated factual questions. Over 79% of the tasks require multi-step reasoning, with an average of approximately four reasoning steps per task, and include 1,062 authentic research-related data attachments (e.g., papers, figures, sequence data, and structural files).
Bitget Wallet has officially launched full-token payment capabilities, allowing users to use thousands of cryptocurrencies beyond just USDT/USDC for card top-ups and QR code payments, eliminating the need for manual swaps or cross-chain transfers. This feature is now available in over 50 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and select emerging markets.The initial range of supported tokens includes mainstream assets such as USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, BNB, BGB, and POL; ecosystem and community tokens like SHIB; as well as regional stablecoins like BRZ (Brazilian Real-backed stablecoin) and XSGD (Singapore Dollar-backed stablecoin). This capability is powered by Onchain Payments Matrix and currently supports over 10 public chains, including Polygon, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Base, with continuous expansion of supported tokens and networks underway.Through this move, Bitget Wallet aims to integrate on-chain assets into users' everyday consumption and payment scenarios, further enhancing the practical utility of cryptocurrencies and ensuring users can spend any token for real-world purchases.
According to official sources, AlphAi has announced official support for prediction market trading, simultaneously launching the 2026 World Cup prediction event. Users can participate in World Cup-related prediction markets within AlphAi, including champion predictions, Golden Boot winners, team advancements, and match results. During the event period, new users who register can claim a 5 pUSD trial voucher. After completing transactions, they can earn fee-based points and participate in prize pool distributions.AlphAi stated that this launch represents a step in its expansion from Meme token launches into prediction markets and more trading scenarios. The platform will continue to explore directions such as Perp DEX, Stock, and RWA in the future.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family, is expected to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank in the near future. Two former OCC employees who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the application is almost certain to be approved.World Liberty Financial established a U.S. trust company in January of this year and submitted an application to the OCC. Obtaining a federal trust bank charter would allow the project to issue and redeem its USD1 stablecoin, manage reserves, provide digital asset custody, and offer conversion and settlement services under a single federal regulatory body, without relying on third-party intermediaries. Currently, the project's intermediary institution is BitGo. (The Block)
According to HTX’s announcement, HTX Plaza has launched a time-limited “World Cup Prediction Red Packet Campaign,” with a total prize pool of up to $100,000 USDT. The campaign runs from June 12 to July 20, 2026 (UTC+8), covering all 34 match days of the World Cup. Users simply need to visit the campaign post on HTX Plaza, participate in the prediction for the day’s first match, and submit their vote to qualify for red packet collection the following day. Additionally, users who post analytical insights about match outcomes in the comment section may further boost their engagement score. The campaign is now live and gaining momentum. Users who participate for seven consecutive days will automatically unlock eligibility for a high-value red packet on Day 8. Head over to HTX Plaza to join the predictions—enjoy the matches and win red packets simultaneously, sharing in the passion and perks of the World Cup.
Odaily Odaily Planet Daily reports that prediction market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi have announced plans to accelerate the deployment of anti-fraud measures during the World Cup to combat potential fraudulent groups, while continuing to expand the coverage of tradable events.According to reports, both companies are introducing more real-world events into prediction markets to enhance user engagement and market liquidity. As transaction volumes continue to grow, related fraudulent activities have also increased. It is reported that Kalshi's annualized revenue reached approximately $1.5 billion in May of this year. (The Information)
According to the official announcement, Bitget’s stock contracts are now available for 11 underlying assets, including BUD (Anheuser-Busch InBev), NKE (Nike), KO (Coca-Cola), ABNB (Airbnb), MAR (Marriott International), and V (Visa), spanning sectors related to major sporting events—such as sports & entertainment, travel & transportation, and consumer brands. These contracts support up to 20x leverage. For more details, please visit Bitget’s official platform.
According to official announcements, OKX’s World Cup prediction campaign has introduced a branded sponsorship prize pool mechanism, with more branded prize pools to be launched subsequently to jointly build the ecosystem.
Bernstein suggests Robinhood is poised for a "strong tailwind" as prediction market trading volumes hit record highs during the World Cup.Data shows that daily trading volume in prediction markets during the early stages of the FIFA World Cup surged from $2.2 billion on June 11 to $4.8 billion on June 12, setting a new all-time high, surpassing the $1.4 billion traded during the previous Super Bowl.Analysts note that prediction markets have become one of Robinhood's fastest-growing revenue lines since their launch. The firm projects Robinhood's prediction market revenue will grow from $150 million in 2025 to $586 million in 2026, representing an increase of approximately 286% year-over-year, and is expected to account for 17% of trading-related revenue and 10% of total revenue in 2026.Bernstein believes Robinhood's partnership with exchange and clearing house Rothera, which is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is a competitive advantage. Since its launch on May 28, Rothera has processed approximately 200 million contracts in 18 days, with FIFA World Cup and MLB-related contracts contributing nearly all of the trading volume. Analysts state that Robinhood's core strength lies in its distribution capability, with its massive user base, a commission of $0.01 per contract, and strategies like up to 50% fee discounts for Gold members helping to drive user engagement.Furthermore, Bernstein indicates that competition in the prediction market space is expanding, including Polymarket launching event contracts for private companies and Kalshi introducing cryptocurrency perpetual contracts. The firm estimates that the World Cup will bring over $3 billion in new betting volume to prediction markets and boost overall consumer trading volume in the industry by $5 billion to $10 billion. (The Block)
: Pudgy Party officially announced on the X platform that the team has decided to shut down the mobile game Pudgy Party and cease further development. Pudgy Party launched as the top-ranked app on the App Store, with total downloads exceeding 1 million.The team stated that their Web-based game, Pudgy World, has greater advantages in scalability, narrative potential, and user acquisition capabilities, and is experiencing rapid growth. As the core flagship game product of the Pudgy Penguins universe, the team will fully dedicate its efforts to its future development.
According to the official announcement, HTX (formerly Huobi) has launched its World Cup prediction campaign. From now until July 20 at 3:00 AM (UTC+8), eligible users who register and complete designated tasks will receive prediction tickets. Users can participate in two types of predictions—champion prediction and single-match prediction—and share a prize pool worth $500,000 in $HTX.
BIT has released its latest weekly report, titled "Will the FIFA World Cup Be the End of the Bitcoin Bear Market?" The report suggests that the current bearish trend of Bitcoin is largely consistent with its early February 2026 outlook. The previously predicted A-B-C correction structure has entered its final phase: after Wave A declined to the $60,000 to $69,000 range, Bitcoin rebounded to the $80,000 to $90,000 range, peaking temporarily around $83,000, after which the rebound momentum gradually weakened.BIT points out that the current Fear and Greed Index has approached historically significant low levels, still showing some similarity to the bottom structure of the 2022 bear market. It maintains its previous view that the summer lull during the 2026 World Cup period could serve as the final stage of Bitcoin's current bear cycle.The report states that future focus will be on the key price range for the end of the bear market, macro catalysts for the next bull run, and trend reversal signals from cyclical indicators. If the relevant framework holds, this market bottom could become one of the low points in Bitcoin's history with a relatively concentrated time window and clearly defined triggering conditions.
investment firm Bernstein has released a report indicating that the expanded 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to take place in North America, is expected to drive up to $10 billion in consumer transaction volume for sports betting and prediction markets, along with over $3 billion in incremental capital.Bernstein analysts pointed out that this World Cup could be a turning point for prediction markets and online sports betting platforms, accelerating the development of platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Robinhood is leveraging this opportunity to commercially launch its CFTC-licensed prediction market exchange, Rothera. Institutions such as Binance and Coinbase are also offering World Cup contracts through partnerships. Currently, on the Myriad platform, Spain and France have the highest odds of winning. (Decrypt)
that, according to Bubblemaps, the FIFA-related token WCUP, which launched yesterday, surged to a market cap of approximately $50 million. Over 30 new wallets snapped up 95% of its supply immediately at the opening. These wallets were funded by multiple centralized exchanges within the half-hour before the launch, had no prior on-chain history, and subsequently distributed the tokens to over 2,500 new addresses via Uniswap Router.Bubblemaps noted that the project's documentation only vaguely mentions a presale and partner allocations, with no on-chain evidence directly linking to the team. However, this level of concentration, combined with undisclosed paid promotion arrangements with KOLs, poses a significant risk.