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Comment by throwaway0665 | Hacker News Reader

These apps claim to let you turn your knowledge into money. What this means is the insiders get to cash out and the desperate suckers provide the liquidity. I'm amazed they've all gotten away with this for so long.

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They get away with it by having on the payroll the son of the president of the most powerful (and dangerous) country in the world

And one of the most corrupt presidents, I might add. He has increased his wealth by at least $3 BILLION during this last term.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2025/09/09/preside...

Good link. I think it’s clear that he is the most corrupt president: while other presidents have been guilty of corruption, seeking money from foreign governments and firms via cryptocoins is a level of corruption no other president has met, and he’s quite open about it.

More like they get away with it because hundreds of thousands of people around the world demand the service.

They've 'gotten away with' it by for example winning cases deciding they offer commodities trading, not gambling. (You can disagree with it, it's in the open and explicit is my point.)

They've had people in their corner who've overturned state law. There are federal lawsuits in progress.

I have no horse in this race, that's sort of exactly my point - they haven't mysteriously 'gotten away with' it like done something illegal and nobody noticed; there have been cases, there will be more, it's so far been allowed. I don't call that 'getting away with' is all.

I hate the stigma and laws against gambling. They don’t stop gambling, they create a higher barrier of entry leading to monopoly, and gamblers are paying more because lack of competition

The stigma against gambling exists because of the fallout when the gambler crashes and burns. The primary concern is for the dependents that the gambler is financially responsible for. The second order is the gambler's vulnerability to blackmail.

I feel that once a person starts gambling, they've just demonstrated they are not fiscally responsible. There should be a hard stop on increasing debt through loans or credit cards, and any income should go directly to the dependents and not pass through the gambler's hands.

Gambling is as destructive as DUI and should be treated with the same level of severity.

Buddy, it's gambling; the gambler decides how much they want to bet. I'm struggling to see how gambling monopolies make things worse for gamblers when the very nature of gambling is that the house always wins.

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