100 Thieves wins EWC Paris championship as esports prize pools dwarf most crypto tournament purses

100 Thieves claimed the VALORANT championship at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris on July 12, defeating NRG in the Grand Final. The win caps years of roster building for the organization founded by Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag in 2017, and it came with a $600K first-place check carved from the event’s $2 million VALORANT prize pool.

The total EWC 2026 prize pool sits at $75 million spread across 25 esports titles.

The road through Paris

100 Thieves didn’t exactly sleepwalk to the trophy. Their bracket run started on July 10 with a 2-1 quarterfinal win over MIBR.

The semifinal on July 11 was equally tight. 100 Thieves edged out Nongshim RedForce by the same 2-1 margin, setting up an all-North American Grand Final against NRG.

The final itself was a best-of-5 affair. 100 Thieves took it, cementing their status as the top VALORANT squad at the biggest multi-title esports event on the calendar.

The EWC 2026 runs from July 6 through August 23, meaning VALORANT was one of the earlier titles to crown a champion. The event is organized by the Esports Foundation with backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Why crypto should be paying attention

This tournament has zero blockchain integration. No fan tokens, no NFT rewards, no on-chain betting layer. The $75 million prize pool is purely traditional money flowing through traditional channels.

Esports is proving it can generate massive financial infrastructure without crypto rails. The $75 million total purse dwarfs nearly every crypto-native gaming tournament ever held. Most blockchain gaming competitions struggle to crack seven-figure prize pools, and they typically require players to buy tokens or NFTs just to participate.

The EWC isn’t interested in blockchain integration, and crypto gaming hasn’t produced a competitive product that would warrant inclusion in an event of this caliber.

What this means for investors watching gaming and digital assets

The competitive esports market is consolidating around a few dominant organizations, and 100 Thieves just demonstrated it belongs in that top tier.

An all-NA Grand Final at a global event signals that the region’s teams are catching up to historically dominant Korean and European squads, at least in this title.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.