The downside with the lottery is that it's state controlled; if a group of talented engineers finds a way to play to extract positive expected value from other

The downside with the lottery is that it's state controlled; if a group of talented engineers finds a way to play to extract positive expected value from other bettors, stakeholders in the government will call this outcome unfair and shut it down ( https://www.mass.gov/doc/letter-to-state-treasurer-steven-grossman-regarding-the-lottery-july-2012/download https://www.mass.gov/doc/letter-to-state-treasurer-steven-gr... ). Even if, on average, money goes from gamblers to social good, people will complain that sophisticated bettors are extracting an "unfair" profit. By contrast, the crypto markets provide an efficient funnel from low-information gamblers to sophisticated engineers. As long as a fair chunk of the profits are channeled to effective altruism causes (which I think is the status quo?) it's a good deal.