When I was told about this I was told I could validate and be apart of the bet for bitcoin matches but not the sweepstakes.
Is that incorrect?
There's two sweeps-- one which started from the group stage (which you've missed), and one which starts from the quarter finals in a few days (which you're still eligible for). Provided you've followed the validation instructions you'll be eligible for the quarter finals sweep, and eligible to make it into the top 3 punters (who win btc) for every remaining match.