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In 2018, the largest wager on the Kentucky Derby using bitcoin was made at BUSR by an executive of a private investment company headquartered in Boston in New York.  This individual bet 10 bitcoins on Justify, ridden by Mike Smith.  Justify ended up winning the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown. 

At yesterday’s price of $55,000 USD per bitcoin, this wager amounted to over half a million dollars.

This year, that record will be smashed by a well-known entrepreneur who has founded several companies and has become an ardent evangelist of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, in particular.

CRYPTO WHALE GOES ALL IN ON WORLD’S LARGEST BITCOIN BET ON THE KENTUCKY DERBY

“Will you accept a $1 million bet in bitcoin on [horse’s name redacted] to win the Derby? Yes or no?”

This is the question that was posed last week to a senior manager at BUSR.

“At first, we thought it was a prank from a competitor or someone who had started celebrating the derby a few days early with too many Woodford Reserve mint juleps,” said James Ross, a BUSR spokesperson.  

However, after further discussions with this individual and management, the decision was made to accept the wager if indeed the bitcoin was deposited.  “This is by far the largest transaction of bitcoin made for a wager on the Kentucky Derby and perhaps the largest bitcoin wager on any sporting event. Full stop,” said Ross.

“With runaway prices for bitcoin over the past year, we have noticed a significant increase in members utilising bitcoin and ether when they fund their accounts,” said Ross.  “But what is far more interesting— from a data perspective – is the fact that there are thousands of deposits of $500 or less by members using cryptocurrency.  The percentage of deposits via crypto has trebled since 2018. It underscores further adoption of crypto, as far as the gaming industry is concerned.  It’s not just the whales who are betting online with bitcoin.”

For those who are curious about the identity of crypto whale, Ross is tight-lipped. 

“The privacy of our members is a cornerstone of our business.  If this individual chooses to tweet about his bets, we will find out when Twittersphere does, too.” 

However, this has not stopped BUSR from offering odds on the crypto whale.

Who is the Crypto Whale betting on the Derby at BUSR?

Since the grading of the wager is predicated on the mystery punter revealing his identity, BUSR will “no-action” the wagers if the whale’s identity is not revealed before the end the month of May, 2021.

Some crypto sleuths will undoubtedly pore over Whale Alert and other websites that track wallet transactions looking for clues.

However, “since this figure is extremely small compared to the daily [bitcoin] transactions, it will be challenging for someone to identify the bettor. However, this punter is certainly not media shy—he may, in fact, reveal his name on May 1st or shortly thereafter,” said Ross.

While Ross is available for media interviews, he insists that no specific comments will be made about the identity of crypto whale except for the fact that he is a male who resides in the United States.

The 147th Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday, May 1st at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.  Fans can tune in to NBC or stream on PeacockTV at 6:50PM ET for the main race.

BUSR

BUSR is an award-winning, international gaming company with offices in the United Kingdom and the Americas.

In 2020, BUSR achieved a 96% Gold Medal performance by Zendesk and was a proud sponsor of Roc Nation Sports’ Tramaine Williams in his middleweight fight against Angelo Leo on Showtime Championship Boxing.

In 2021, BUSR sponsored WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Jamel Herring in his title fight against Carl Frampton at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai.

BUSR, in association with the UNLV Lee Business School, also provides non-partisan polling data on US elections, including the US Presidential Election, Georgia Gubernatorial Election,  and the 2022 North Carolina Senate Republican Poll BUSR/UNLV polling data are regularly featured by top forecasters, including FiveThirtyEight, 270ToWin and The Hill.

BUSR odds and color commentary are distributed to various publications including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek and the New York Times.