This makes absolutely zero sense.

If mutual sportsbooks or betting exchanges have their odds moved, then don't you think that other betting market makers (regular sportsbooks) would also change their odds to reflect the market price?

If not, then arbitrageurs would come in and arbitrage the situation such that the odds on the two markets even out somewhat.

The point is that regardless of where you're betting, a retail sportsbook or a sporting exchange, you're going to incur a substantial amount of negative EV if you bet on any rigged event without the insider knowledge.

I saw this documentary quite a while ago. Not shocking to say the least.

A lot of these smaller leagues are created for the sole purpose of enriching the founder of the leagues as well as insiders who have access to the players. And the easiest way to do that is to arrange match fixes with players and teams directly.

Even tests and ODIs can be fixed, although probably nowhere near the scale of the fixing that is going on in domestic T20s. Poorly paid international cricketers are notorious for match fixing scandals in the past (SA, Pakistan, etc.)

The answer to both of these questions is no.

I personally think that one of the main advantages that a crypto casino has over traditional ones is the fact that it offers KYC-free play. I simply do not see any reason to use them anymore if they were to also start verifying their users' identities for withdrawals. That is potentially deceptive and sites can even leverage that to hold onto user funds.

To address the second question, theoretically as long as the casino is regulated and registered it shouldn't matter. But that is almost never the case in the cryptospace and I'd rather not have my personal information out there for a random anonymous operator to see and use.

I haven't heard of any actual cases where this has been happening, but it seems like it would work.

So long as you actually get a card from Visa/Mastercard, I agree with the others that you should be able to withdraw at ATMs, make EFT transactions and so on. The restriction is on signing up for the card - not on the actual usage of the card.

You might get charged some extremely high transaction fees attached to your card if you use it overseas, though. There is also a risk with the funds being your friend's name, so definitely don't put too much BTC into it.

I really think that if you want to invest in cryptos, you probably don't want to hold these ETFs per se.

Sure, these things are going to generate quite a lot of hype in the short run given the fact that it is a completely novel concept. But if you look at how the index is structured (an ETF holding a bunch of companies who are then in turn holding at least $100m in cryptos), it is laden with regulatory and counterparty risk.

If you were going to invest in specific companies in the first place, then sure, this is an investment structure that could probably work. But in terms of getting exposure to actual cryptos, this is a terribly inefficient method of achieving that ends.

Yeah for sure.

From a technical analysis perspective BTC does seem to be ready to break out. It has been hovering around the $50k mark for quite a while and forming a really good support level from which to springboard off.

With the massive institutional interest, it's really going to be a matter of time before $60k hits. There's still some caution in the market right now which is the reason why prices are subdued - perfect time to load up.

I just think that this is such a convoluted way of going about betting on a team.

If you are into this kind of stuff then I think fantasy leagues are probably more attractive to you anyway given the fast action and well established nature of the operations there. If you want to bet on real leagues, then I think most people still prefer the traditional sportsbook model where your payoffs are clear.

Where the value for these "stocks" derives from is very unclear at this stage, unlike a bet which is simply a liability that the sportsbook has to pay if a certain outcome is reached.

That would just be completely stupid.

I actually remember reading freakonomics and Sumo being rigged as one of the subject matters that came up. But what makes you think that you are the one with the secret to betting in a rigged market?

The fact that a select few have insider information into the outcome of matches already mean that you are playing the game at a disadvantage - odds on the correct outcome are going to be artificially reduced given the knowledge that certain people have of the outcome. That significantly reduces your EV and your likelihood of winning in the long run.

What is with all these tech giants sending cryptic messages over Twitter these days?

It is honestly feeling more and more like an orchestrated attempt to manipulate bitcoin prices for personal gain. Musk obviously has a significant personal stake in BTC through Tesla, and Zuckerberg could be the same.

Sure, this media attention is great but if it doesn't translate into actual adoption of BTC and blockchain technology, it's not going to lead anywhere. Just a few companies holding a few hundred BTCs for speculative purposes isn't going to cut it.

Equities and cryptos are simply two completely distinct areas of investment.

With the former, you are investing in businesses that generate income through productivity activities. With the latter, it is more of a hedge against the fiat economy's inflation risks and the eventuality of a collapse of the entire system.

The crazy growth in the cryptospace will also likely die down a tad after this bull market - it is currently simply too good to be sustainable.

I would also argue that both are required at a balance in order to construct a truly great portfolio asset allocation - they complement each other well as asset classes. Cryptos are far too volatile in the short run even though the long-run growth potential is obviously unquestionable.

The court hasn't even determined his fate yet.

I honestly don't think that running a bitcoin mixer per se would be breaking any laws in most countries - all you're doing is redirecting transactions on a public network. Obviously, the operation of a mixer can attract nefarious individuals with which the problem lies.

I also don't think that existing players in the mixer market would care too much. They have too much incentive to keep going given the volume of mixing they receive on the daily, and most have probably prepared substantially for any run-ins with law enforcement anyway.

When the sage of Omaha tells you something about the fiat economy, he's probably right.

Even though I don't necessarily agree with everything that Buffett has said in the past, especially in terms of his archaic attitude towards cryptos in general, that doesn't detract from the fact that he is an excellent investor with an edge above the rest in the fiat game.

Reflation risks are rife right now, and it should be pretty obvious for anyone that has taken simple economics. Prices are going to go up as a result of more money chasing the same amount of goods - I don't really understand how people could possibly deny that.

I do think that the pandemic has the potential to exacerbate a lot of problem gambling.

However, I honestly don't think that budgeting your losses/bets is going to be a great way to solve any form of addictive behaviour. If you have to go to these lengths in order to control yourself then you are probably better off just signing up for the self exclusion program at the casino you regularly play at.

Changing your perspective on gambling probably helps the most. Stop viewing it as a get rich quick scheme - it is purely entertainment.

I don't think that the problem is with promoting any shady sites per se.

Most people who promote gambling sites on Youtube generally do so as an affiliate of some pretty well known sites (Duelbits, Roobet etc. where legitimacy is not really an issue).

What is really important is that they are concealing the fact that they are not playing with their own money, and they are able to pick and choose at what pieces of footage they want to keep (obviously the ones where they win) and which ones to discard.

That's the real danger here.

What do you mean dwindle?

Both of these asset classes are excellent hedges against inflation and an imminent fiat collapse in the long run. I probably wouldn't say that they would all of a sudden start crashing and stop being a store of value just because of some temporary change in the marketplace.

But I do think that BTC at the present holds a lot more upside still compared to gold - simply because it is much more convenient compared to gold, and has just the same store of value properties. As adoption and retail interest continues to grow, so will the rewards for those who put trust into it from the beginning.

Definitely in terms of global reserve currency status.

It's no secret that the Chinese Yuan has been increasingly integrated into global commerce and has become a very real threat as a reserve asset to the USD. Heck, even Ray Dalio has said in Bridgewater announcements that one must hedge against the imminent surge in the dominance of CNY.

China's CBDC is simply going to accelerate this existing process - although I don't necessarily think that it'll become the dominant crypto per se given the first mover advantage and adoption that BTC has already.

This is something that seems to be completely overlooked by the general public.

And this is also something that most CPIs will lie to you about - they only take into account the price of consumer consumer staples but fails to include any deterioration of quality or quantity of the goods in question.

In that sense, inflation is still a real risk. People simply don't realise it enough to act on it with rationality, it seems.

The bitcoin bet is really paying off for Tesla shareholders.

History has shown that anyone who believes in bitcoin's long term viability as a virtual cash equivalent is going to be rewarded quite handsomely - this time is no different.

TSLA selling off 10% of their BTC holdings shouldn't be alarming to investors either - they are entitled to profit take, and besides they're still holding much more in terms of fiat than at the start of the year, which is always great news.

Check what mocacinno wrote. Some real gems there.

I'd just like to reinforce the difficulty of actually setting something like this up. You'll need a significant amount of capital to start, advertise, and maintain your service. You'd also have to deal with the regulatory side of things which will likely be very muddy waters.

Even the most established mixers like Bitmixer have shut down before, and they probably had million dollar revenue generating businesses. Chipmixer has been victim to multiple attacks on their websites too. Handling these things will be a nightmare if you're not fully prepared.

I actually got recommended an ad by Google this morning for a fake roobet site as well (although not this particular one, which is probably a lot more deadly given the domain is so closely approximated).

Very easy for beginners to fall into this trap for sure.

Always either type the URL yourself or bookmark the site just in case. Do NOT click on any google ads, whether on their search engine or on adsense. They do virtually no filtering - as long as they get their share of money, they're fine with literally advertising for anyone, scammer or otherwise.