Argentina’s semifinal win over England drives fan tokens and crypto wagers

Argentina’s 2-1 World Cup semifinal win over England in Atlanta on July 15 sparked sharp moves across crypto-linked sports markets, from fan tokens to prediction-market wagers. Enzo Fernandez scored in the 85th minute from a Messi assist and Lautaro Martinez added the winner at 90+2, also from Messi, sending the defending champions into the final against Spain. The result drove heavier trading and volatility in the Argentine Football Association fan token, $ARG, on the Chiliz-powered Socios platform, while CHZ rose by as much as 28% as investors also focused on the underlying sports-token infrastructure. At the same time, Arkham said trader "gud.hl" held a $1 million bet on Argentina to win the World Cup that showed a $3.9 million paper gain after the England match and could generate more than $12 million in profit if Argentina wins the final. Earlier reports on Polymarket also pointed to heavy activity in the England-Argentina semifinal market, though they contained conflicting details on bettor identity, position size and contract structure.