Set against Bitcoin? Try a trip to Vegas

What is highly resistant to 40-year high inflation and fears of covid-19 (and now monkeypox)? The idea of ​​winning money, of course, explains the 2022 boom in casino gambling.

With cryptocurrencies in tatters after months of hammering from pessimists (and possibly realists), those betting big on bitcoin have seen those bets weaken from a peak of $68,000 last November, with TIME’s Next Advisor reporting on Thursday (Aug. 4 ) that “the most extreme crypto-skeptics say bitcoin will stay as low as $10,000 in 2022.

Oddsmakers called it early, with USBookies.com saying late last year that “bitcoin (BTC) has 4-1 odds to reach $50,000 by September 22 (20% implied probability), according to betting aggregators. Odds for bitcoin to fall below $10 000 at this time is 10-1 (9.1%).

While you can still entertain yourself with $10,000 in Sin City, everything from Monte Carlo to Macao suggests that more people are opting for slots and casual table games, perhaps leaving crypto speculation to the “experts” and going for more familiar ones. get-rich-quick schemes.

There’s a rosy glow around Las Vegas this year, and it’s not the gels on the stage lights behind that Elvis impersonator. The Strip is back to minting money even in the midst of a broader economic situation.

“Despite inflation at four-decade highs and worries about a looming recession, people are flocking to the entertainment and gambling oasis,” The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday. “Executives at Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International this week reported record performance for their Las Vegas properties in the latest quarter.”

For added color, the WSJ noted: “In June, Nevada’s gambling revenue was about $1.3 billion, the 16th consecutive month that gambling revenue topped $1 billion, according to state regulators.”

Celebrity Cage Match: Casinos Versus Crypto

MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle, sounding as giddy as any casino executive ever does, said on an earnings call with analysts on Wednesday (August 3): “Our second quarter results represented our highest adjusted EBITDAR quarter for property in Las Vegas history. , both on an absolute and same-store basis, and the highest second quarter in our regions ever, with seven of our U.S. properties setting all-time records.”

Put another way: To hell with inflation and monkeypox – place your bets.

Not that crypto is on the way out. Resorts World Las Vegas, the $4.3 billion gaming palace built on the site of the beloved Stardust property and the first major casino added to the Strip in more than 10 years, struck a deal with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss-led crypto exchange Gemini last year.

Those of us who cry for billionaires sobbed inside when Fortune reported in May that “Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founders of rival crypto exchange Gemini, have each lost about $2.2 billion — or roughly 40% — of their fortunes this year.”

It’s heartbreaking what’s happened to the Winklevoss twins — as if their infamous Facebook imbroglio wasn’t bad enough — but we have a feeling the willing couple will be OK.

Over there on the gambling island of Macao – possibly next to the island where “Westworld” is located – they’ve closed everything except casinos.

“City officials have begun closing schools, tourist attractions, cultural venues and all non-essential businesses,” CNN reported in June. “Restaurants have been ordered to suspend service. Casinos have been allowed to remain open, but analysts say their bottom lines will still be hit as the government has urged residents not to visit entertainment venues.”

Adding that “Macao’s government depends on casinos for more than 80% of its income, with the majority of the population employed directly or indirectly by the casino industry,” it is easy to understand why schools are closed but betting centers are not.

It’s the economy, stupid.