ROLR Rockets 80% on Crypto.com Bet—Because Apparently We're All Just Gambling on Everything Now

Shares in publicly traded casino brand operator High Roller Technologies (ROLR) jumped more than 80% on Tuesday following word that the firm entered into an agreement with Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA) to create a prediction markets offering. Because nothing says "we've learned nothing from 2022" like doubling down on derivative adjacent products while Bitcoin ETFs print money for BlackRock.

The firm considers the move a "strategic growth opportunity," in a sector that Bernstein analysts said this week could grow to generate $1 trillion in annual trading volumes by 2030. Yes, a trillion. With a T. The same analysts probably also said Dogecoin to $10 back in 2021, but who's counting?

"This is our primary focus, not an amenity as part of a larger product," High Roller Technologies CEO Seth Young told Decrypt. "We are effectively the only pure-play prediction market operator in the public markets." Translation: we're the only listed company whose entire business model is "would you like to bet on that?"

The firm's agreement with CDNA will allow it to offer event contracts across sports, finance, and entertainment to users throughout the U.S. via the Crypto.com affiliates' CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse. So basically, they're building the infrastructure to legally bet on whether your government's economic policies are actually working. Bold move.

"Our go-to-market is built on the federal regulatory framework," said Young. "We will be operating through CFTC-regulated infrastructure." Nothing says "trust us, we're boring now" like CFTC approval. The regulators are basically the responsible adults in the room, and honestly, we need that.

While the foundation of the firm's offering will allow it to offer markets across the United States, Young said that his firm is keeping a close eye on the growing legal battle taking place between states and prediction market platforms. "Everyone in this space is watching how the regulatory landscape develops," he said. "We are paying attention to all regulatory and legal developments." Because nothing unites crypto companies like sitting around watching lawyers bill by the hour.

Prediction markets are becoming an increasingly popular way for people to speculate on sports, but those wagers won't drive platforms' trading volumes to $1 trillion by the end of the decade on their own, analysts at investment bank Bernstein wrote in a note on Tuesday. Turns out betting on whether your football team wins isn't quite as economically significant as betting on whether the Fed will cut rates again.

Today, event contracts tied to sports account for 62% of trading volumes for firms like Polymarket and Kalshi, but their share will likely moderate to 31% by 2030 as institutions become familiar with wagering on other types of events. Translation: soon you'll be betting on macro events with your retirement account, and Wall Street is very interested in that.

The Nevada-based firm's home state is putting up one of the toughest fights, having recently instituted a temporary restraining order against prediction market platform Kalshi, banning the firm from offering markets in the