|
|
The ads are impossible to get away from: BetRivers, Draft Kings, FanDuel, BetMGM.
The ads offer money and prize enticements, and make it sound like everyone’s a winner. The websites are just as aggressive.
And they’re already doing a great job of sapping money away from New Yorkers, most of whom lose money on betting “entertainment.”
Sure, there’s tiny print on the ads that might be readable for those with 100-inch flatscreens, offering hotlines for those who might be suffering from a gambling problem.
You can safely bet wiping away the debt isn’t on the list of solutions at the other end of the line.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers can’t invest in cryptos on some of the world’s biggest and most cost effective exchanges, including BinanceUS and Crypto.com, which many other states allow.
New York has one of the most restrictive regulatory regimes in place regarding crypto investing.
It’s so bad, NYC and state residents who want to buy into the city’s own crypto coin have had trouble doing so, because some exchanges offering it have been barred from operating in the state.
Sports Gambling Winning in NY, Cryptos Not So Much
In just the first few weeks of legalized sports book gambling in the state, New York’s mobile sports betting handle surpassed $1 billion, as reported by the state’s Gaming Commission.
Caesars Sportsbook and FanDuel led the sports booking frenzy.
According to Newsday, the Empire State is already set to breaking New Jersey’s $1.3 billion monthly record reached in October 2021.
Though more updated figures weren’t available yet, heavy betting on the NFC and AFC Championship Games probably put New York over the mark, while sinking thousands of gamblers further underwater.
It’s all perfectly legal, of course. The state assembly and governorship have said so. And of course, the state government, the not so silent partner for all those in-your-face gambling ads and enticements, is raking in the money.
Sportsbooks, which are taxed at 51% on gaming profits, have already brought in close to 47 million in revenue.
On the other hand, even a major crypto exchange like Crypto.com, which has been able to offer its services in 49 states, hasn’t yet cracked New York.
CEO Kris Marszalek pointed to the state’s onerous regulatory hurdles as the reason: “We don’t have a date for New York. As you know, New York State is the most complicated state in the US to launch with the BitLicense and whatnot, so no immediate plans for New York.”
There are many who consider crypto investing as something little better than throwing money away gambling.
And plenty of especially young crypto enthusiasts make no bones about the fact that they’re looking to score big in the sector.
They take the associated risks, plowing money into obscure low market cap cryptos and hoping or calculating that the projects might see astronomical “to the moon” rises in valuation.
It happens. It’s also exceedingly rare, and with the latest general downturn, the crypto sector has shed nearly one third of its peak 2021 valuation, or about one trillion.
But the fact is, many would-be crypto investors just want access to the top ten, or top 30, or top 100 crypto projects (see them all at coinmarketcap.com).
With such a limited selection of exchanges allowed in New York, it’s hard to do even that, and trade with competitive pricing.
To sum up, there’s something beyond seedy in pushing and profiting off wall to wall glitzy, slick sports betting promotion fantasies, while suppressing cryptos, which even naysayers agree could have a market cap valuation in ten years of 50 trillion or more.