~ Study Shows: Most Bitcoin Holders in the US Spend It for Legitimate Purposes ~
While a small percentage spend their cryptocurrency on illegal gambling, most people who replied to a recent survey about U.S. crytpo indicated they spend their Bitcoin on speculation, investment, and paying for services.
David Sandler from BonusInsider reports on findings from their recent survey on the crypto spending behavior of Bitcoin holders from the US. Between the 1st and 5th of September 2022, they surveyed 1,115 Bitcoin adopters from the US to find out how they spend their bitcoins and how many transactions they send per month.
While most U.S. holders of Bitcoin use their cryptocurrency for legitimate purposes including speculation, investment, paying for services, and covering expenses, a very small percentage use it for offshore gambling.
Study Shows: 5% of Bitcoin Holders in the U.S. Use It for Illegal Gambling
Sandler says, “We were surprised to discover that 5% of all surveyed Bitcoin owners spend their crypto on online gambling.” Even though online gambling is regulated in many US states, none of the licensed operators allow their customers to use cryptocurrencies for deposits. This means that 5% of all Bitcoin holders (maybe even more because not everyone is willing to reveal such sensitive information) spend their money on unregulated or offshore gambling sites. Many of these websites lack operating licenses or are regulated in offshore jurisdictions like Curacao, Antigua and Barbuda, Guernsey, or Costa Rica.
Sandler says he is mostly concerned about two consequences.
First, players are exposed to higher risk when gambling at unlicensed sites. Their deposits are not protected, and there is no guarantee they will be able to withdraw their eventual winnings.
Second, the US government loses tens of millions per month in tax money because these offshore gambling websites do not report their revenue to the IRS.
Matthew 6:24 proclaims, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Better not to gamble at all and simply save or invest the money, or donate it to the poor.
Refer to the chart above, visualizing the survey results, for more information on how people report they use their Bitcoin.
