CRYPTO WHALE PLACES RECORD $1M BITCOIN WAGER ON KENTUCKY DERBY

Boutique online gaming company BUSR has revealed details of a record $1M USD bitcoin wager on the Kentucky Derby. 

The previous record bitcoin wager was made at BUSR in 2018, when an executive from a private investment company, headquartered in Boston and New York, bet 10 bitcoins on Justify, ridden by Mike Smith. Justify ended up winning the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown. At today’s prices of almost $56K USD per bitcoin, that wager would have amounted to over half a million dollars. 

But, this year, that record will be smashed by a “well-known entrepreneur and crypto/blockchain evangelist,” who has bet $1 million. 

Commenting on the historic bet, James Ross, a BUSR spokesperson, said: “At first, we thought it was a prank from a competitor or someone who had started celebrating the derby a few days early with too many Woodford Reserve mint juleps.” However, after further discussions with this individual and management, the decision was made to accept the wager if indeed the bitcoin was deposited. 

“This is by far the largest transaction of bitcoin made for a wager on the Kentucky Derby and perhaps the largest bitcoin wager on any sporting event. Full stop,” continued Ross. “With runaway prices for bitcoin over the past year, we have noticed a significant increase in members utilising bitcoin and ether [Ethereum] when they fund their accounts.

“But what is far more interesting — from a data perspective — is the fact that there are thousands of deposits of $500 or less by members using cryptocurrency. The percentage of deposits via crypto has trebled since 2018. It underscores further adoption of crypto, as far as the gaming industry is concerned. It’s not just the whales who are betting online with bitcoin.”

For those who are curious about the identity of crypto whale, Ross remained  tight-lipped, adding: “The privacy of our members is a cornerstone of our business. If this individual chooses to tweet about his bets, we will find out when Twittersphere does, too.”

To add to the fun, BUSR is now offering odds on who the crypto whale is:

Who is the Crypto Whale betting on the Derby at BUSR?

• Mark Cuban +200
• Mike Novogratz +400
• Jamie Dimon +500
• Hedge Fund Owner +600
• Elon Musk +800
• Cameron Winklevoss +1000
• Tyler Winklevoss +1200
• Private Equity Owner +1600
• Jack Dorsey +2000
• None of the Above +2500

Since the grading of the wager is predicated on the mystery punter revealing his identity, BUSR will “no-action” the wagers if the whale’s identity is not revealed before the end of the month of May 2021.

Some crypto sleuths will undoubtedly pore over Whale Alert and other websites that track wallet transactions looking for clues.

However, “since this figure is extremely small compared to the daily [bitcoin] transactions, it will be challenging for someone to identify the bettor. However, this punter is certainly not media shy — he may, in fact, reveal his name on May 1st or shortly thereafter,” said Ross.

The 147th Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday, May 1st at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Fans can tune in to NBC or stream on PeacockTV at 6:50PM ET for the main race.

AYO.NEWS says:

This is pretty cool! While bitcoin has taken a bit of a hammering over the last week or so, there’s no doubting its overall stellar performance this year, and there’s obviously a lot of enthusiasm in the crypto community. Who do we reckon the whale is? The “not media shy” comment kind of makes us lean towards Cuban or Musk, but hey, what do we know.