Gambling is eating the world

I’ve had a good week mentally and physically. The last few weeks prior were filled with a lot of travel and social events that drained me. I’ve used the last week to get back to a routine filled with good sleep and exercise. It’s no surprise that I’ve been in a great positive mood and my productivity has increased significantly.

On another note - Interactive Brokers rolled out event based contracts on their platform. People can now bet on real-life events like who will win the election. There are a few startups out there like Kalshi and Polymarket that have done this for a few years, but Interactive Brokers rolling this out to their huge userbase is a different animal.

I’m not surprised as gambling has become more mainstream over the last few years. Howard Lindzon describes this trend as the degenerate economy which I think is aptly named. Sports betting is now all over the country and professional sports leagues have gone as far to promote their gambling partners.

Now people can gamble directly on world events through one of the largest brokerages. I expect the other brokerages to soon follow. It won’t be long until popular brokerage apps like Robinhood will allow you to bet on nearly anything with 1 click. Gambling is eating the world.