[keyanp]

Everyone knows what they are doing when gambling etc

But nowadays crypto is being pitched as an investment to the layperson who doesn’t understand the risks and isn’t being told those risks by the exchanges. It’s those folks the SEC is trying to protect.

That and prevention of larger market issues that can arise from unregulated financial services, ie FTX

[thepasswordis]

>Everyone knows what they are doing when gambling etc

No they absolutely do not.

[aardvarkr]

Gambling is a pretty easy concept to understand, and it’s been with all of us since we were kids. Person A wagers an amount that a certain outcome will occur. Person B accepts that wager and agreed to the terms of the wager. If every kid on the playground can understand how a bet works I guarantee adults can too.

[tasuki]

I can assure you many people gambling on slot machines think they'll come out ahead. Gambling can be extremely addictive and harmful, to the point the addict stops using logical reasoning.

[mrguyorama]

I don't think they actually think they will come out ahead. I think they are willfully ignoring reality. Gambling addicts also lie about how much they have won gambling, but that isn't because they can't count, they just ignore the inconvenient reality, because being aware of that reality would be extremely painful when you don't feel like you can control your addiction to gambling.

[bluecalm]

Gambling is easier to understand than investments. That being said I agree there should be more regulation. You should be required to state excatly what expected value and variance is when you offer gambling games. Same with fees. "This slot machine pays off 45% of your bet on average and here is how often you win X, Y, Z" or "organizer of this poker game earns about 90% of deposited money in rake and other fees while the remaining 10% is cashed out by the winners".

It would be a better world if we had regulation forcing such disclosure but it doesn't mean that if we still don't have it for gambling we shouldn't have it for things advertised as investments.

[Auracle]

I’ve talked with otherwise intelligent people that thought they were coming out ahead on pull tabs or Magic the Gathering cards.

Investing in crypto is also easy to understand. It’s speculation and the price might drop to 0.

It’s the psychology of both that are harder to deal with.

[locallost]

They do. Everyone knows they get the money only if the wind otherwise they lose it all. Most underestimate the "house always wins" factor, but that's not the point here.

Crypto advertises with FOMO on a new world. It's "everybody is doing it, don't be a sucker but a winner in the future", and not "this is a risky asset where you might lose everything".