Nexo, a digital assets platform based in the Cayman Islands, announced on April 14 that it has partnered with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to become the Official Regional Digital Asset Partner of the Argentine national football team across South America.
The deal lands weeks before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across North American stadiums, with Argentina set to defend their title as reigning champions.
The partnership adds Argentina’s men’s national team to a growing roster of sports sponsorships for Nexo.
It also marks another commercial deal for AFA, which has been aggressively expanding its sponsor portfolio in the lead-up to the tournament.
Nexo will launch a global ticket giveaway for Argentina’s World Cup matches, open to both new and existing clients.
The company will also distribute signed squad shirts and co-created player content featuring Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, and Nico Paz.
Those activations will run from May through the end of the tournament on July 11, according to the announcement.
Additional match-day experiences and tier-linked merchandise rewards tied to platform activity are part of the deal.
The agreement was formalized at a gala ceremony in Buenos Aires, where Nexo and AFA executives signed the deal in front of media and invited guests.
Federico Ogue, CEO at Buenbit by Nexo, said:
“Argentina’s national team represents the highest level of sporting excellence, built on talent, conviction, and an unrelenting will to win. At Nexo, we share that standard. As we grow our presence in Argentina and across South America, partnering with AFA is a statement of commitment to this region and the clients we serve here.”
Leandro Petersen, AFA’s Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer, said:
“Nexo’s arrival as the Official Digital Assets Partner of the Argentine National Team reflects not only the growth of our brand globally, but also the growing interest of international companies in partnering with Argentine soccer and one of the world’s most prominent national teams.”
The deal follows Nexo’s acquisition of Buenbit in December 2025, which gave the company access to more than 1 million users and a foothold through Argentina’s securities regulator, the CNV.
Nexo has since established Buenos Aires as its regional hub for Latin America, with plans to expand across Argentina, Peru, and Mexico.
The Buenbit acquisition fits into a broader pattern. Argentines have increasingly turned to digital currencies in recent years as a hedge against high inflation, which at one point exceeded triple digits.
Argentina’s central bank has also been considering allowing traditional banks to trade crypto, according to Reuters.
Nexo’s AFA partnership also coincides with the company’s return to the United States. In February 2026, Nexo relaunched in the U.S. market through a partnership with listed crypto company Bakkt, offering crypto-backed loans and yield-generating products.
The relaunch came three years after Nexo exited the country and paid a $45 million fine to settle SEC and state charges over a crypto lending product.
(The timing of the AFA deal, the U.S. relaunch, and Argentina playing World Cup matches on American soil is hard to overlook from a branding perspective.)
For AFA, the Nexo deal is one of many recent commercial agreements. Sportcal reported that AFA appointed sports marketing agency EMW Global in August 2025 for commercial advisory ahead of the World Cup.
Since then, the association has renewed partnerships with XTrend, signed boutique agency Druid Sport for the Indian Subcontinent, and struck a regional deal in Bangladesh with electronics company Walton.
AFA also works with IMG as its exclusive Asia-Pacific sponsorship agency. Other sponsors in the portfolio include Deepcoin, Google Gemini, ATFX, Amul, and HSBC, according to SportsMint Media.
Nexo, for its part, has been building an extensive sports sponsorship portfolio. The company serves as the Official Crypto Partner of the Australian Open and Summer of Tennis, the Official Digital Wealth Platform of the DP World Tour in European golf, and the Official Digital Asset Partner of the Audi Revolut Formula 1 Team.
It also has partnerships with four ATP tennis events, including the Dallas Open and the Acapulco Open.
The DP World Tour deal includes title sponsorship of the Scottish Championship, where Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev hosted a lunch with U.S. President Donald Trump in July 2025, according to Reuters.
The company reports managing over $8 billion in assets under management and having processed more than $403 billion in transactions since its founding in 2018. It operates in over 199 jurisdictions.
(Some reports from early 2026 cite AUM figures between $11 billion and $15 billion, suggesting growth since the Buenbit acquisition.)
The 2026 World Cup is shaping up to be one of the most commercially active tournaments for crypto and digital asset firms. Yahoo Finance reported that FIFA has signed its own deal with blockchain-powered prediction platform ADI Predictstreet as an official partner for the tournament.
For Nexo, the AFA deal ties together its Latin American expansion, its U.S. relaunch, and its sports marketing strategy into a single high-visibility moment. Argentina’s matches on North American soil will put both brands in front of a global audience of billions.
