Mythical Games and FIFA have revealed plans for FIFA Rivals, an officially licensed mobile football game. The free-to-play title will launch on iOS and Android in the summer of 2025, though an exact release date remains undisclosed.

The game will let players build and manage their own football clubs and compete in real-time online matches. 

FIFA Rivals Will Integrate NFTs

Mythical Games, known for its NFL Rivals mobile game, will also incorporate NFTs into FIFA Rivals. As the studio told BeInCrypto, the game will have its exclusive NFT marketplace. Players will be able to trade their favorite football stars as NFTs.

The studio’s previous title, NFL Rivals, launched in April 2023. It also features collectible and tradeable NFT player cards minted on the Mythos blockchain, built with Polkadot. Since its release, the game has surpassed 6 million downloads across platforms.

Following a similar model, FIFA Rivals will use the Mythos blockchain, allowing players to collect and trade iconic football stars from both past and present eras.

“FIFA Rivals is designed to be highly accessible, featuring a shallow learning curve coupled with advanced features for hardcore players to explore,” Nate Nesbitt, spokesperson for Mythical Games told BeInCrypto. 

This isn’t FIFA’s first foray into NFT and Web3. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA collaborated with multiple blockchain startups to release games and collectible apps. 

“The partnerships we have with both the NFL and with FIFA should open the door for other collaborations between web3 games studios and major sports titles,” Nate Nesbitt told BeInCrypto. 

Increasing Optimism for an NFT Comeback

The announcement coincides with renewed optimism in the NFT space. 

Most recently, ‘Vitalik.eth’, and wallet allegedly linked to the Ethereum co-founder, moved 32 ETH to Base and minted 400 Patron NFTs. These were part of Truemarkets’ fair launch, which allocates a significant portion of its TRUE token supply to Patron holders.

Despite these developments, the NFT market continues to face headwinds. Data from 2024 shows that 98% of NFT collections saw little trading activity, with only 0.2% of projects turning a profit. 

Notably, many NFTs lost over half their value shortly after launch, underscoring challenges for both creators and investors.

Meanwhile, Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, recently created a commemorative NFT to celebrate its 1 billion transaction milestone. However, the platform faced significant allegations of copying artist Chris Biron’s work. 

Base responded by pledging the NFT proceeds to Biron and promising stricter oversight for future projects.

The market uptrend sparked by Donald Trump’s November 5 US presidential election victory has entered its third week. Increased trading activity has pushed many major cryptocurrencies to new all-time highs, while lower-cap tokens have seen sharp value spikes, delivering significant gains to traders.

Crypto whales have also taken notice, increasing their accumulation of select assets. This week, their purchases included Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Leading meme coin Dogecoin is one of the altcoins crypto whales bought this week. The spike in its large holders’ netflow during the review period confirms this. According to IntoTheBlock’s data, this has skyrocketed by 112% over the past seven days. 

Large holders refer to whale addresses that hold more than 0.1% of an asset’s circulating supply. Their netflow tracks the difference between the coins they buy and the amount they sell over a specific period. When this rises, whale addresses buy more coins. This is a bullish signal that suggests the likelihood of a sustained rally.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is another crypto asset that has caught the attention of the whales this week. This has happened despite its consolidation between the $3,396 and $3,043 price range over the past 14 days. 

BeInCrypto’s assessment of ETH’s supply distribution reveals that, over the past seven days, whale addresses holding between 100,000 and 1,000,000 ETH have accumulated an additional 380,000 ETH, valued at $1.27 billion at current market prices.

As of this writing, the altcoin trades at $3,342. If the whales continue to pour money into this altcoin, its price may rally toward $3,500 in the near term.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu whales also showed up this week. According to Santiment, on November 14, the balance of addresses holding between 10,000 and 1,000,000 SHIB was 127 billion SHIB. 

As of this writing, this figure has rocketed to 129 billion SHIB. This means that this cohort of SHIB holders bought 2 billion SHIB during the seven-day period in review. If accumulation persists, the meme coin’s value may trend higher. 

Cboe Global Markets Inc. announced plans to introduce the first cash-settled index options tied to Bitcoin’s spot price. 

Cboe’s Bitcoin ETF options will debut on December 2 and will be based on its ETF Index, which tracks a group of US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin ETFs Options Continue to See Interest from Institutional Investors

This development comes shortly after Nasdaq listed Bitcoin ETF options, allowing investors to speculate on Bitcoin’s price movement or manage risk through derivatives.

Crypto derivatives, including options and futures, have traditionally been traded outside the United States due to regulatory hurdles. 

However, increasing demand and a favorable stance toward cryptocurrency adoption have encouraged major U.S. exchanges to expand their offerings in the sector.

“We expect the unique benefits of cash-settlement, combined with the availability of various index sizes and FLEX options, will give customers more flexibility in their trading strategies,” Cboe stated in its press release. 

Earlier this week, Grayscale joined the trend by starting options trading for its GBTC and BTC Mini ETFs. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s IBIT options trading set a record on its first day, with over $425 million in trades.

Overall, spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to gain significant traction, now accounting for 5.33% of all mined Bitcoin. Bitcoin price peaks in March and November coincided with $4 billion in ETF inflows, highlighting a strong connection between ETF demand and price accumulation.

“Options are expanding the ecosystem, bringing more traders involved, and bringing more liquidity. And liquidity is big fish bait. So, you should see more institutions using not only options but the ETF itself because of the advent of options being available,” ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a recent podcast. 

Bitcoin ETF trading volumes exceeded $7.22 billion earlier this month, driven by optimism surrounding regulatory clarity. Ethereum ETFs also recorded inflows of $295 million, fueled by institutional interest led by firms like BlackRock and Fidelity.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has further cemented its dominance by reaching $40 billion in assets under management (AUM). This rapid growth places IBIT among the top 1% of ETFs globally by AUM. 

BlackRock’s aggressive acquisition of nearly 9,000 Bitcoin in a single day has further boosted its ETF’s position in the market.

This series of developments signals a growing acceptance of cryptocurrency products within traditional financial markets, with institutional interest driving unprecedented growth in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.