Bitcoin and ether just suffered their worst weekly drawdown since the FTX collapse. The selloff is spilling into sportsbooks, where World Cup prop bets on Kylian Mbappe leading the tournament have jumped sharply.
The worst week in years
It's been a brutal stretch for the two biggest cryptocurrencies. The scale of the decline hasn't been seen since the market chaos that followed FTX's implosion. Trading volumes spiked as investors rushed to exit positions, though the exact triggers remain a mix of macro jitters and regulatory noise.
The drop caught many off guard. Leveraged positions took a hit, and some exchanges reported temporary liquidity strains. This isn't a normal mid-cycle correction — it's the kind of move that makes people reassess their risk appetite.
From crypto markets to sportsbooks
As crypto prices tumbled, some of that capital appears to have found a new home: World Cup prop bets. Wagering on Kylian Mbappe to lead the tournament in goals or similar leaderboard props has increased notably since the selloff began.
Sportsbooks have adjusted their odds accordingly. The trend suggests a shift in behavior — traders taking profits or cutting losses and redirecting funds into something with a clearer, shorter-term outcome. It's a familiar pattern: when crypto gets choppy, gambling picks up.
Mbappe's odds and the tournament
Mbappe is no stranger to the spotlight. The French star was a key figure in the previous World Cup, and his form this season has only boosted his appeal. The prop bets in question don't just pick match winners — they're about individual performance, which offers a different kind of thrill for bettors.
The tournament itself is still weeks away, so the betting markets have room to move. If crypto stabilizes, some of that money could flow back. But for now, the Mbappe line is riding high on a wave of crypto cash.
The connection between digital asset volatility and sports gambling is getting harder to ignore. Whether Mbappe's odds hold will depend not just on his game, but on what the crypto market does next. The next few weeks will tell.
