Drake Curse: Spain win wipes out Drake’s USDT bet in World Cup final
In the World Cup final on July 19, Spain beat Argentina 1-0, triggering large crypto losses for bettors tied to the “Drake curse.”
Canadian rapper Drake reportedly staked $1.5M in USDT on Argentina to win within 90 minutes (including stoppage time). With Argentina as the underdog, a correct outcome would have paid out over $5M in crypto, but Spain’s victory left the position fully losing.
The report links the result to the “Drake curse” pattern: high-profile athletes backed by Drake have often ended up losing. Earlier, he placed $1M in BTC on Conor McGregor, who returned at UFC 329 but lost in the first round to Max Holloway.
Lookonchain also flagged another massive bet: $1.23 (with Messi and Argentina) at odds around 10%, where a win would have returned profits above $10M.
On the other side, a whale betting on Polymarket reportedly created a new wallet hours before the final and wagered $1.95M on Spain at 59.1% odds, winning about $1.35M within hours.
Net takeaway for traders: this is a high-volatility, event-driven crypto betting story. The “Drake curse” narrative may drive short-term engagement, but it is unlikely to impact broader BTC/USDT price fundamentals.
Neutral
The news is about crypto-linked sports betting outcomes (USDT/BTC wagers on the World Cup final). It does not provide evidence of protocol changes, regulatory actions, exchange flows, or on-chain fundamentals that typically move markets.
Because it’s an isolated event, any market effect is more likely to be sentiment/attention-driven rather than a sustained price catalyst. Similar “sports-to-crypto” episodes have historically caused short-lived spikes in retail interest (and sometimes brief volatility around derivatives/betting venues), but broader BTC or stablecoin markets generally revert once the event ends.
In the short term, traders may see higher engagement around USDT options/derivatives tied to prediction markets, and the narrative (“Drake curse”) can amplify social media volume. In the long term, unless such behavior translates into measurable, persistent capital flows on major exchanges, the impact should remain neutral.