The Alter Ego

How to play The Alter Ego

“ARGN was created because problem gambling is becoming a bigger issue across Africa and most responsible gambling efforts still happen within individual countries,” Akolade tells iGB. “While many organisations are doing great work, there has been limited opportunity to learn from each other, share research, or work together on common challenges.

“We felt there was a gap for a continent-wide network that could connect organisations, encourage collaboration, and help build a stronger collective voice on player protection. ARGN is not here to replace national organisations or regulators. Its purpose is to support and strengthen the work already being done by bringing people and organisations together.”

But while the ARGN intends to enhance collaboration between stakeholders across the continent, Akolade asserts the aim is to promote “common principles rather than identical regulations”.

What is The Alter Ego?

The committee also heard from Brianne Doura-Schawohl, a nationally recognised problem gambling expert. One study cited by Doura-Schawohl found that 52% of Gen Z respondents include sports betting and prediction markets as part of their long-term financial plan.

She also criticised a Kalshi competitor for offering a function that allows minors over 17 to link an investment account with the ability to buy and sell event contracts. A former legislative director for the National Council on Problem Gambling, Doura-Schawohl described the opportunity as “very dangerous” for teenagers susceptible to harm.

Beyond Texas, Kalshi made history on Friday when it became the first prediction market to sign a partnership with a federally recognised sovereign nation.

What is The Alter Ego?

One interesting nugget surrounds weekend figures at Kalshi, where volume on Sunday only surpassed prior daily activity by $34 million, BofA data shows. Typically, Sunday volume for the quarter dwarfs that of College Football Saturdays due to the voracious demand for NFL offerings. BofA analyst Shaun Kelley attributes the irregularity to the possibility that Kalshi is “over indexing” on college sports.

Kelley also cited improvements at Robinhood as a possible factor for the regression at Kalshi. Just before the NFL season, Robinhood took a minority stake in Crypto.com and struck a deal to begin routing NFL contracts to OG.com, the site’s regulated prediction market platform.

A 40% weekly increase at Crypto.com combined with the attrition at Kalshi may reflect the enormity of the Robinhood deal, according to Kelley.