Degens bet $170,000 in crypto on the discovery of the missing Titanic submarine

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The current headline-grabbing situation surrounding the missing submarine exploring the wreck of the Titanic has taken an unexpected and arguably troubling angle of crypto degeneracy: Players on betting site Polymarket have now bet more than 170,000 $ on the location of the manned submarine.

The OceanGate Titan submarine went missing on June 18 during an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic, with five people on board. He only had 96 hours of oxygen, which means it’s likely the passengers have already run out of air to breathe.

As the search continues in the Atlantic Ocean, crypto degenerates have decided to bet on finding the submarine by midnight June 23, as Gizmodo first reported.

According to the Polymarket website, the cabin vessel does not need to be rescued or physically salvaged, just found. If “parts are located” but the cabin that holds the ship’s passengers is not, it does not count as the submarine found.

At the time of this writing, 62% of bets are betting no, that the sub won’t be found in a way that meets the above description, while less than half of bets hold an optimistic view of the increasingly difficult emergency situation.

As news of crypto traders gambling on people’s lives spread, the reception online was decidedly mixed. One Twitter user called it, “the most dystopian thing I’ve seen on the [timeline] in a bit,” while others said (perhaps jokingly): “I’m thinking of putting my bonus in there.

Betting on lives is actually insane, video game publication Dexerto tweeted after sharing the site’s odds.

Polymarket, the crypto platform hosting the bets, took the buzz and backlash as a promotional opportunity and began responding to viral tweets about Titan’s research.

“Another 15% chance that they will find them by Friday,” Polymarket replied to musician Rico Nasty.

An official statement from OceanGate, the US Coast Guard or “another credible government agency” is required for settlement of this bet. In the absence of such a statement, “a consensus of credible reporting” will suffice.

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