Around 26% of Gen Z investors in the U.S. revealed in a recent survey by the American finance platform Betterment that they treat sports betting as a "deliberate, ongoing component" of their wealth plans, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 13.<\/p>\n
In comparison, 14% of millennials, 6% of Gen X, and 1% of baby boomers admitted to treating sports betting as a means of wealth creation.<\/p>\n
Related: More Americans over 55 hold crypto than under 25, NCA report finds<\/p>\n
About 33% of Gen Z respondents said they don't participate in sports betting at all, compared with 63% of investors across the four generations. The online survey gathered responses from 1,000 U.S. retail investors.<\/p>\n
The report cited a Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress study from March as per which housing unaffordability and rising living costs have led to many people flocking to high-risk, speculative trades such as prediction markets, sports betting, and cryptocurrencies to achieve their financial goals quickly.<\/p>\n
"When a prediction market or sportsbook starts to feel like a retirement strategy, we have a problem," said Betterment CEO Sarah Levy. "These products are designed to keep people seeking the next quick score, not to help them build toward the next decade."<\/p>\n
Prediction market platforms such as Polymarket have gained immense popularity due to their sports event contracts.<\/p>\n
Launched in 2020, Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market. It is built on Polygon, the Ethereum-based layer-2 blockchain network. It lets traders predict events like future Bitcoin (BTC) prices, election results, sports events, etc., by paying with cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
Users can deposit Circle's USDC stablecoin, a type of digital dollar, and trade shares that represent the likelihood of specific future outcomes.<\/p>\n
CNBC reported that its international exchange posted a record monthly notional trading exceeding $10.8 billion and its U.S. exchange posted a figure north of $3.5 billion in June during the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
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In the U.S., Polymarket offers its contracts as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered platform.<\/p>\n
Several U.S. states such as Michigan, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Illinois have blocked or tried to restrict Polymarket's sports event markets, arguing these markets are nothing but sports betting.<\/p>\n