100 Thieves punch ticket to EWC VALORANT Grand Finals as esports and crypto remain worlds apart
The $2 million Esports World Cup tournament in Paris highlights competitive gaming’s growing prize pools while blockchain integration stays on the sidelines
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byEditorial Team
Jul. 11, 2026
100 Thieves knocked out Nongshim RedForce in the semifinals of the Esports World Cup 2026 VALORANT event on July 11, advancing to the Grand Finals in Paris. The win caps a strong tournament run for the North American organization, which now sits one match away from claiming a share of the event’s $2 million prize pool
The Grand Final is scheduled for July 12, 2026, closing out a tournament that has run since July 2
The road to the finals
100 Thieves earned their semifinal berth by taking down MIBR in the quarterfinals on July 10 with a 2-1 scoreline. That match set them up against Nongshim RedForce, the South Korean squad backed by food conglomerate Nongshim, which had advanced by eliminating Team Vitality earlier in the bracket
Esports prize pools keep climbing, but crypto stays home
The $2 million prize pool for a single game within the broader Esports World Cup is a significant number. What it hasn’t attracted is crypto
No cryptocurrencies, tokens, or blockchain initiatives have been linked to the EWC 2026 VALORANT event. That’s not a minor omission for a tournament of this scale, held in a major global city, with millions of concurrent viewers across streaming platforms
100 Thieves themselves were among the esports brands that explored digital collectibles during the NFT boom. The sponsorship dollars flowing into events like EWC are coming from traditional brands, endemic gaming companies, and legacy consumer products firms like Nongshim
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
