MW Young crypto bros love to gamble - and you'll never guess where they get the money
By Charlie Sabgir
Crypto holders with college degrees and full-time jobs gamble at much higher rates than non-crypto owners
DraftKings (pictured), FanDuel and other online-gambling apps attract young crypto investors.
Those who hold both stocks and crypto show even more intense gambling behavior.
Risk begets risk - for young men as much as anyone.
A recent survey of 1,000 men between 18 and 29 from YouGov and Young Men Research Project (YMRP) - a research organization that studies political and social trends of young men - showed that avid gambling and speculative investing often go hand in hand.
Respondents were asked about participation across four different types of gambling: in-person; online; informal; and videogame loot boxes. Informal and videogame bets were the most common, with slight majorities of young men reporting some frequency of gambling activity.
There were huge divides between asset holders. Asset accumulation generally correlates with increased gambling, but the type of asset is most important. Young men who hold speculative investments are far more likely to gamble - and to gamble often.
Take online gambling: one in five crypto owners gamble daily, and 63% gamble at all. Nonowners were in a different camp. Just 7% gamble online daily, and close to 60% have never gambled online.
Such disparities hold across categories. Crypto owners gamble regularly in informal settings - such as sports bets with friends, poker nights and casual wagers. Thirty percent do so at least weekly - almost double the rate of young men without crypto. They're similarly more likely to patronize casinos and in-person gambling venues. Even with videogame "luck mechanics," where the divide is smaller, crypto holders crack open loot boxes at a greater clip.
The speculative gap extends to stockholders as well. Young men who trade stocks are more committed gamblers than those who don't: 45% gamble online at least monthly, versus just 28% of non-holders. The behavior of this cohort tracks closely with crypto owners - if slightly less extreme.
As you might expect, those who hold both stocks and crypto show even more intense gambling behavior. Two-thirds (66%) of this group gambles online with some frequency, well-above the overall average (48%). There's a similar spike for in-person gambling compared with young men overall, as well as individuals who hold just one of these speculative assets (crypto or stocks).
Traditional-asset holders aren't necessarily cautious either. Young men who hold the three most common assets in the survey - a savings account, an automobile and crypto - gamble at remarkable rates, and close to 25% bet online daily. Those with retirement accounts and mortgages also gamble more frequently than young men who lack these assets.
Remove speculative assets - particularly crypto - from the picture, and behavior shifts dramatically.
But once you remove speculative assets - particularly crypto - from the picture, behavior shifts dramatically.
Among young men with savings and a car - the two most common assets - but no crypto, just 5% gamble online daily. About three in five abstain entirely. There's a comparable drop-off among those with savings and retirement accounts but no crypto.
I've written previously about how the stereotypical "get rich quick" crypto bro - living in his parents' basement, gaming into the wee hours - doesn't exactly align with the data. Crypto bros tend to be better employed, higher earners with more diverse portfolios. The portrait of America's fiercest young male gamblers isn't entirely different.
Young men employed full-time gamble informally and online at much higher rates than those who are unemployed. Those with a college diploma roll the dice more than their peers who lack a degree. But here too, crypto is the catalyst. Full-time employees who trade in crypto gamble online and in-person at about twice the rate of those working 40 hours but owning no cryptocurrency.
Sports betting is fueling today's gambling surge, and young men are the industry's bullseye.
That young men report disproportionate problem gambling is disheartening, if predictable.
Sports betting is fueling today's gambling surge, and young men are the industry's bullseye. Online platforms DraftKings $(DKNG)$, FanDuel and others lure this demographic with the promise of proving their sports savvy - to show they can outsmart the market or their buddies. The apps are engineered for friction-free betting - every click and scroll optimized for tossing in more money. Watch any NFL game or listen to popular shows such as Bill Simmons's podcast, and you'll be blanketed with promotions like "Bet $5, get $200," paired with squabbling amongst the "experts" over spreads, futures, and over/unders.
But it's not just sports and slot machines - speculative fever is taking politics by storm. Prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi are exploding, driven overwhelmingly by young men aged 18 to 34. It's no stretch of the imagination to assume the most frequent informal and online gamblers - young men with expansive portfolios that include a speculative asset - are flocking to these platforms as well.
Just as crypto holders are more likely to gamble, the most fervent gamblers are far more likely to hold crypto.
For plenty of young men today, gambling isn't an isolated behavior - it's part and parcel of a risk-seeking lifestyle. The relationship cuts both ways. Just as crypto holders are more likely to gamble, the most fervent gamblers are far more likely to hold crypto. Crypto is the second-most common asset among those who gamble informally or online every day, ranking higher than cars, retirement accounts, and mutual funds.
Few are spared in this speculative cycle; bitcoin's November crash is a testament to this. As one domino falls, so may the others - those riding the crypto roller coaster are often the same ones getting action on the Sunday football slate. Risk fuels risk, and it's never been easier to indulge.
Charlie Sabgir is the research and strategy lead for the Young Men Research Project, which studies political and social trends among young men. He also writes for the Young Men Research Initiative Substack.
Plus: They made big money on risky trades in the market this year. Then they posted about it.
More: Young men aren't investing in a 401(k) for retirement - they're banking on bitcoin
-Charlie Sabgir
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 22, 2025 07:40 ET (12:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments