Welcome to Augur, the Cryptocurrency Death Market Where You Can Bet on a Donald Trump Assassination

Welcome to Augur, the Cryptocurrency Death Market Where You Can Bet on a Donald Trump Assassination

6 years ago
Anonymous $RBasgWKaIV

http://www.newsweek.com/welcome-augur-cryptocurrency-death-market-where-you-can-bet-donald-trump-1043571

In one niche corner of the cryptocurrency world, an ethical debate is raging. The topic of contention is not exchange rates or squabbles over which virtual money is king, but so-called “assassination markets” where users can place bets on the likelihood of celebrity deaths.

So far, U.S. president Donald Trump, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, actor Betty White and senator John McCain have been the subject of death predictions on a new platform called Augur. Launched this month by a non-profit called the Forecast Foundation, the service is powered on the Ethereum blockchain and designed to place wagers on the chance of events coming true. “Predict the next election, short a cryptocurrency, or hedge against disaster,” the pitch reads.