Over the past year, the headlines would have you believe that young people are in their gambling era. From stories about Gen Z’s “financial nihilism” fueling interest in prediction bets and crypto to reports that younger Americans are driving the boom in prediction markets, the narrative is pretty much the same across the board: young people are betting on everything with prediction markets’ help. But the headlines aren’t completely baseless. For years, YPulse has been watching gambling gain traction with young consumers. In YPulse’s 2024 Gen Z Vices trend report, we explored how gambling had grown among Gen Z. And last year, YPulse delved into sports betting’s popularity among young adult males with our data showing more than half (53%) used a sports betting app and nearly the same number (46%) were addicted to doing it.  As time has gone on, gambling has become more accessible for young people—and, importantly, more visible on social media—so yes, it can seem like everyone is doing it. But, as always, while prediction...