Online gamblers bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on whether the submarine that went missing on a recent expedition to the Titanic, in what online critics called a “dystopian” use of digital finance. Since Wednesday, people wagered at least $300,000 on the fate of the vehicle using the crypto platform Polymarket, Mother Jones reports. On the site, betters buy and sell shares on the outcomes of events using cryptocurrency, and can redeem their shares for $1 each if their guesses are correct. Follow the latest updates on the missing Titanic submarine here “For the purposes of this market, the vessel need not have been rescued or physically recovered to be considered ‘found,’” reads the description page for the submarine bets. “If pieces are located, but not the cabin which contains the vessel’s passengers, that will not suffice for this market to resolve to ‘Yes.’” One user, asking only to be identified by his first name, Rich, told Mother Jones he made around $3,250 betting. He argued what he was doing was morally defensible because unlike the regular stock market, it had no impact on the fate of the entity being wagered upon. “My answer would be that markets are fundamentally immoral. There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism,” Rich said. Others weren’t so sure. Social media users racked up thousands of likes criticising such gamblers. “Actually insane,” one commenter wrote. “Imagine making money off of if someone is gonna die or not.” Polymarket defended its offerings on the submarine, arguing that it was a neutral way of calculating the likelihood of a rescue. “If the families were privy to Polymarket, they could use the market as a way to obtain the real-time, unbiased probability of the submarine being recovered,” the company said in an email to Gizmodo. “That is a far more valuable service to them than sensationalist media coverage: with our markets at least they understand the true probabilities.” Bookmakers take bets on nearly everything, from sports to sex tapes, but the industry does have some lines regarding poor taste. According to Betting Gods, a gambling industry tip site, most major bookmakers refused to take bets regarding the death of Queen Elizabeth. “Major bookmakers won’t bet on the Queen dying as it would offend most of its regular customers. Whether they all agree with Britain having a royal family or not, most people would prefer to bet on a variety of other things such as sports,” the site wrote in an article. “When asked the question of why bookmakers won’t bet on what age the queen will die, the spokespeople of all the major bookmakers were unanimous in saying that it was important that people understand where the parameters of bad taste bets can’t be crossed.” Read More US launches prosecutions of Chinese companies on charges of trafficking fentanyl ingredients Titanic sub latest - Coast Guard makes stunning admission about ‘explosion’ when submersible lost contact OceanGate CEO said he was ‘personally insulted’ by ‘baseless cries’ about Titanic sub’s deadly safety flaws Federal court halts ‘suppressive’ Florida drag ban Florida's law targeting drag shows is on hold under federal judge's order Recovery could cost millions as Coast Guard stunningly admits submersible ‘explosion’

The Cubs just got gloomy injury news on ace Marcus Stroman, who has been suffering from rib discomfort for a few days now.The Chicago Cubs are running out of luck in a pivotal stretch to make the playoffs this year. Star pitcher Marcus Stroman, who complained about right rib discomfort this past...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 26, 2023--

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 28, 2023--

FIFA has banned ousted former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from the sport for three years

IShowSpeed found the debuted diss track of Larray who targeted him and friends!

The United States military says a helicopter mishap in northeast Syria over the weekend has left 22 U.S. service members injured to various degrees

Lenovo regularly produces laptops that wind up on PCMag's roundups of the best laptops and

Ludvig Aberg capped off a six months he won't forget

Certain Modern Warfare 3 features are needed at launch on Nov. 10 to excite the Call of Duty fan base, including Ranked Play, great maps, Zombies, and more.

The Green Bay Packers are transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love as the quarterback.For better or worse, it is the Jordan Love era of Green Bay Packers football, now and going forward.After 30-plus years of hall-of-fame-level quarterback play, the Packers decided to move on from the...

Richemont’s wake-up call for luxury watchers this week raises the ante for LVMH, L’Oreal SA and Gucci-owner Kering