But, isn’t the key distinction that this is an unregulated space, which is heavily manipulated. Crypto investors cannot make proper informed decisions, because they are being mislead or outright lied to, and cheated, at a near constant rate. It’s optional for them to be sure, but they are being tricked.
You put a lot of faith in regulations. Take lottery for instance. It's almost entirely controlled by states in the US and they prey on the most vulnerable. They even have state gambling apps now so there's virtually no restriction when and how much you play.
I don't know how much sports gambling is regulated but I doubt its meaningful. Gambling is dangerous because a certain personality cannot control themselves. What can regulation do? Put a little warning? Make sure the house advantage is no more than X? That's not what makes gambling dangerous.
Drugs are same story. Heavily regulated to their detriment. At least with illegal drugs you know it's dangerous and could be abused. But when a doctor prescribes you heavy pain killers for a simple injury, it's not obvious how dangerous they are.
As drugs are dangerous for those predisposed to substance addiction, betting games dangerous to those predisposed to gambling addiction, crypto is dangerous for people who are predisposed to non-regulation addiction. I've seen far too many people addicted to the fantasy of non-regulation and it's effects that it's hard to find sympathy, but I try to stay grounded in viewing it as the disease it is.
