Preface
At 12:00 AM Beijing time on June 12, 2026, the 23rd FIFA World Cup officially kicked off. With 48 teams, 104 matches, and spanning three host nations—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—it is not only a global celebration for football fans but also a "high-risk area" for illegal gambling and cryptocurrency scams.
Hong Kong police have explicitly stated that, with the start of the World Cup, illegal gambling activities are expected to increase significantly. More alarmingly, in recent years, the promotion, communication, and betting methods for illegal gambling have shown a clear trend of digitization, even using virtual currencies to settle bets to evade law enforcement investigations. Meanwhile, on-chain security monitoring has discovered multiple active cryptocurrency scams targeting World Cup fans, with related scam funds converging into specific public chain and exchange addresses.
USDT—this stablecoin with a market cap of approximately $190 billion—is leveraging its features of price stability, strong anonymity, and fast cross-border transfers to become the "preferred chip" for illegal gambling payments during the World Cup. Deconstructing this on-chain capital flow is a key step in understanding the risk chain behind online gambling.
Part 01 - Why has USDT become the "Preferred Chip" for World Cup Online Gambling?
During the World Cup, gambling platforms experience a surge in demand for fund flows, with USDT playing a central role.
1. Stablecoins Solve "Betting Volatility Anxiety"
Traditional cryptocurrencies (BTC/ETH) are highly volatile, while USDT is pegged to the US dollar, allowing users to:
• Deposit 1000 USDT ≈ 1000 USD
• Be unaffected by market fluctuations
• Use it directly as a "betting unit"
This enables gambling platforms to establish a unified pricing system.
2. No Reliance on Banking Systems, Cross-Border Transfers in Seconds
USDT (especially TRC-20) offers:
• Transfers without KYC
• Global wallet interoperability
• Irreversible transactions
For gambling platforms, this means: once funds enter the chain, they enter an "irrecoverable state."
3. Significant Anomalies in USDT Traffic During the World Cup
According to observations from multiple on-chain security institutions:
• The frequency of USDT transfers during the World Cup period has increased significantly.
• Activity of gambling-related addresses has increased.
• The number of intermediary addresses has expanded rapidly.
Part 02 - At a Glance: The Complete On-Chain Fund Flow of USDT Online Gambling
The capital flow in USDT online gambling is not a simple "gambler → platform → withdrawal" process but involves complex money laundering chains with multi-layered hops and cross-chain dispersion.
1. Gambler Deposit
The gambler sends USDT from their personal wallet to the deposit address provided by the platform. This address is often a one-time address generated by the platform to track the user's deposit. The transaction is usually recorded on the Tron or Ethereum network.
2. Platform Dispersed Aggregation
The platform does not concentrate all gambling funds in a single address but aggregates them through numerous scattered addresses. Each address receives small amounts of funds, which are then transferred out in a dispersed manner to evade detection by on-chain monitoring and risk control systems.
3. Intermediary Address Group
Funds are gathered from dispersed addresses into an intermediary address group. This stage is characterized by rapid inflows and outflows, with large sums briefly held—funds are quickly transferred out after entering, and the Gas fee payment patterns across addresses controlled by the same group are highly consistent, serving as a key clue for on-chain identification.
4. Mixer Obfuscation
Some funds enter mixers (like Tornado Cash), where multiple funds from different sources are mixed and then redistributed, disrupting the correlation of fund origins and increasing tracing difficulty.
5. Cross-Chain Hopping
Funds hop across multiple public chains via cross-chain bridges—for example, flowing from Polygon to Tron, then to Ethereum. This leverages the information silos between different blockchains to create a "broken chain illusion."
6. Final Cashing Out
Funds are funneled into exchange deposit addresses, exchanged for fiat currency to complete the money laundering. Notably, security monitoring platforms have found that World Cup-related crypto scam funds are moving from Polygon to Tron and directly into exchange deposit addresses—indicating that the entire money laundering chain is accelerating its closure.
Part 03 - Three Typical USDT Online Gambling Scams During the World Cup
Scams during the World Cup are not a "single model" but operate with a high degree of industrial sophistication.
1. "USDT Betting to Evade Regulation" Scam
Updated tactics:
• "Bet on-chain, no real-name verification needed"
• "Unregulated, high odds"
Nature:
👉Fake betting platform + backend manipulation of outcomes
2. Counterfeit Sports Betting Platforms (High-Replica Sites)
Characteristics:
• UI highly模仿s legitimate platforms
• Allows small withdrawals initially
• Directly freezes accounts later
Typical pattern:
👉"Let you win 100 USDT first, then make you lose 1000 USDT"
3. Inside Information Predictions / Guaranteed Win Plans
Tactics:
• "Internal data predictions"
• "AI analysis guarantees wins"
• "Match result manipulation models"
Nature:
👉Harvesting "information-anxious users"
Case: The "Gambling Network" Behind Promotion and Referral
Beyond scams directly targeting gamblers, online gambling groups are also deploying large-scale promotion and referral operations. During the World Cup, the "guaranteed profit recommendations," "inside score predictions," and "high-odds entry points" you scroll past on social media are often paid advertisements for gambling websites.
In June 2026, during the "Clean Internet—2026" campaign, the Yulin Public Security Cyberspace Department in Guangxi cracked a case involving World Cup online gambling promotion and referral. The suspects established a studio, posting a large number of gambling-related advertisements in graphic and video formats across multiple social media platforms, providing referral and operational services for gambling websites to profit illegally. They have since been criminally detained.
The police action illustrates: Online gambling promotion and referral are clearly illegal and subject to crackdowns. As ordinary users, encountering such ads—do not click, do not trust, do not share.
Part 04 - How to Identify USDT Gambling Addresses On-Chain?
From a security analysis perspective, abnormal fund flows can be identified through on-chain behavior:
1. Rapid In-and-Out Pattern
The most typical transaction feature of gambling addresses is rapid in-and-out—funds remain in an address for an extremely short time, rarely staying overnight; dispersed inflow, concentrated outflow—small amounts from different addresses converge, then are transferred out in a large sum; daily balance is essentially zero—funds do not settle in any address.
2. Abnormal Address Clustering
Clustering algorithms can reveal that many addresses interacting with the same gambling platform, while seemingly independent, show high consistency in transaction timing, amount distribution, and counterparty interactions, allowing them to be grouped as the same entity.
3. Gas Fee Consistency
Different addresses controlled by the same group show highly consistent Gas fee payment patterns—whether in Gas price selection, transaction time distribution, or Gas limit settings, they exhibit clear signs of "the same operator." This is known as a "behavioral fingerprint" in on-chain analysis.
4. High-Frequency Cross-Chain Hopping
Gambling funds frequently hop across different public chains—entering Polygon, exiting Tron, then moving to Ethereum. This cross-chain behavior itself is a significant risk indicator, especially when funds eventually converge into exchange deposit addresses, essentially locking in the cashing-out stage.
Part 05 - How Can Ordinary Users Identify and Prevent USDT Online Gambling Traps?
As an ordinary user, you don't need to become an on-chain detective, but the following points can help you avoid most traps:
✅Avoid Any Projects Involving "USDT Betting"
As soon as you see the following keywords:
• Stablecoin betting
• On-chain gambling
• Web3 prediction games
• High returns without real-name verification
👉Directly assess as high risk.
✅Be Wary of "Guaranteed Profit Models"
Any promises of:
• Guaranteed wins
• Inside information
• AI predictions ensuring victory
• High win-rate tips
👉Are standard tactics of gambling scams.
✅Don't Believe "Ability to Withdraw Small Profits"
The core logic of gambling scams:
•Let you win first, then encourage you to increase your stake.
Platforms often allow small withdrawals initially to build trust. As users gradually increase their investments, the platform restricts withdrawals using excuses like account anomalies, deposit requirements, or withdrawal reviews, eventually absconding with the funds.
👉The ability to withdraw small amounts does not indicate platform safety.
✅Preserve On-Chain Evidence (Crucial)
If you have already transferred funds to a suspicious platform, be sure to immediately save:
• Transaction hash
• Wallet address
• Chat records
• Transfer screenshots
• Platform URL
While blockchain transactions are difficult to reverse, on-chain data is public and transparent. Complete evidence aids in subsequent fund tracking, risk analysis, and reporting to relevant authorities.
👉Upon discovering anomalies, stop transferring funds immediately and preserve evidence first.
Conclusion
USDT makes cross-border fund transfers extremely efficient but also endows illicit industries with unprecedented "liquidity capabilities." The World Cup is not just a sporting event; it is also becoming one of the most active periods for illicit fund flows on-chain.
From an on-chain perspective, the nature of such USDT online gambling is not complicated:
⚠️Using stablecoins as packaging, gambling as the entry point, and cross-chain transfers for laundering.
For ordinary users, the most effective protective measure is simply one statement:
⚠️Not participating in any form of on-chain gambling is the best risk isolation.
