If you’re a member at any 18 and up online casino – or if you’re just thinking about joining one – you probably have a pretty good understanding of cryptocurrency.
After all, it’s crypto that powers the best online betting sites, as it offers players a number of advantages both on-site and off.
Crypto allows you to make guaranteed deposits with no governmental interference via the meddlesome UIGEA banking regulation, it allows you to get the best enhanced bonuses for online casino, sportsbook, and poker play, and it allows you to receive same-day payouts when it’s time to collect.
However, this is all just a side effect of the true value of cryptocurrency, especially if you’re among the younger adult demographic.
In a time of rapid inflation, rapidly eroding trust in Wall Street (see the GameStop debacle), and general unenthusiasm for fiat currency, crypto is the best bet not just at online gambling sites but also for your future.
Play your hand right, and you can retire at 40.
Play your hand very right, and you can retire at 30.
Of course, crypto also has a target on its back, as the US government has long sought ways to crack down on the stuff.
So, as expected, the powers that be are playing their hand, too.
Amusingly, of course, they’re using the “casino” metaphor.
Take this recent article from Cointelegraph where Gary Gensler – head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – compares stablecoins to “poker chips” in the “Wild West”:
“Stablecoins are almost acting like poker chips at the casino right now. We’ve got a lot of casinos here in the Wild West, and the poker chip is these stablecoins at the casino gaming tables.”
While the analogy is apt, it is meaningless.
Yes, stablecoins – like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which are both accepted at BetOnline Sportsbook – do “act” like poker chips.
Namely, they are a stand-in for the US dollar, pegged one-to-one to the fiat currency.
You buy your “chips” – or your stable coins – with USD, and then you bet with those “chips.”
When it’s time to collect, you turn in your “chips” for fiat money.
The only difference is that you can elect to keep the crypto instead, spending it as you wish outside the casino.
It’s also worth pointing out that all crypto – not just the stablecoin – functions this way.
So, good point, Gary.
That said, it’s difficult to see what his actual complaint is.
For one thing, Gensler doesn’t appear to understand the difference between stablecoins and the vast majority of cryptocurrencies that aren’t stablecoins.
And if he does, he’s certainly not demonstrating the fact.
The aforementioned fiat regulator’s quote, taken from this interview with the Washington Post (which is owned by Jeff Bezos, whose companies don’t accept crypto), seems to parlay itself into a bigger nebulous discussion about China, the Cayman Islands, and various other bogeymen of the old money world.
Then, to make matters even more ridiculous, the fiat shill says this:
“Cryptocurrencies… [are] an asset class that’s highly speculative, stored on a digital ledger… In often cases there’s not something standing behind it other than what someone will pay you for it.”
Now, if you’re a child, this “distinction” might make some sense.
But if you’ve already come of age – and as an 18+ online gambler, you have – then it’s a real head-scratcher.
You have a credit card, right?
Well, your credit isn’t tied to anything concrete, is it?
It’s all electronic.
What the government doesn’t tell you is that 90% of all American dollars are in the ether. They’re air.
The USD is already electronic currency.
But maybe you have a debit card. That draws straight from your bank account.
And there’s cash in them thar accounts!
But is there really?
If you get a check or a direct deposit from your nine-to-five, your boss isn’t sending a stack of bills to your bank. They’re using a “digital ledger” to credit your bank account.
It’s still air!
In theory, the bank has enough paper bills in storage to account for that credit. But again, what exactly does that mean?
The US dollar went off the gold standard in August 1971.
It is backed by nothing more than exactly what this creepy looking villain tries to use as some kind of fundamental differentiator between fiat and crypto.
It is backed only by “what someone will pay you for it.”
Or, if you prefer, what someone will sell you for it.
It’s obvious to anyone with a functioning brainstem that crypto is a big threat to the establishment. Bankers aren’t a fan, and that means your government isn’t a fan, either.
Everything Gensler says in his effort to scare the public off crypto can be used to define fiat currency.
It’s all air, and there’s nothing to back it up.
Except with crypto, there’s nobody behind those assets to drive them down, to manipulate the markets, to set arbitrary limits on how much you can buy, sell, and trade, and to use the full force of the government to keep you in line.
Also, maybe – just maybe – a fearmongering “casino” metaphor isn’t the best choice when when you’re trying to convince gamblers to not bet.
We love casinos, Gary.
And the “Wild West” seems pretty cool, too.
Look, don’t let these clowns scare you off the biggest windfall of your life.
Every generation has its big chance, and crypto is your generation’s big chance.
Plus, the market’s down, so there’s never been a better time to buy in.
Yes, you should treat your crypto gains like income and pay your taxes.
But other than that, show greedy old Uncle Sam the door.