Winter Star

What is Winter Star?

Younger patrons are increasingly familiar with crypto, but the lack of regulatory adoption in the regulated space can push bettors to offshore or unlicensed platforms, most of which do accept it. At the ICE Barcelona conference in 2025, a panel of international sports betting CEOs lamented the fact that they were barred from adopting crypto, while their black-market competitors were not.

A report released in June by payment provider Paysafe said the percentage of online sports bettors who dabble in crypto is 64%, more than double the US average of 30%. Crypto deposits are only legal in two states, Wyoming and Colorado, but crypto withdrawals are not legal anywhere – 85% of respondents said they would welcome withdrawals as an option, Paysafe said.

“When permitted, crypto would become a top-three payment option for funding deposits (after digital wallets and debit cards), and a top-two payment preference in New York and Illinois,” the report said.

How to play Winter Star

That window Scheinthal had hoped for seems to be moving further away. Caesars’ proxy filing showed that even during negotiations in the spring, Fertitta refused to go above its $31-per-share offer “due to higher financing costs and increased macroeconomic risks”. From the end of 2025 to late April of this year, higher borrowing costs had resulted in “approximately $40 million per year in additional costs from when the process started”, the filing said.

Diller, for his part, lodged an all-cash, $48.30-per-share offer for MGM days after the Caesars deal broke. People Inc. finished Q2 with $1.1 billion in cash, but between the 74% of shares it would acquire, as well as MGM’s long-term debt of over $6 billion, some level of financing would be required. MGM appointed an independent committee to review the bid but has said nothing since.

Moving forward, history suggests that this month’s rate hike might not be the last. During hawkish periods, the FOMC has paused after an initial rate hike just once since the 1990s, per the Wall Street Journal. Over that period, the US Central Bank has typically lifted rates six to seven times throughout an upward cycle. Warsh has signalled optimism in the economy’s stability moving forward.

How to play Winter Star

“This decision has not been made lightly and our immediate priority is to support those of our colleagues who may be impacted through this transition.”

Earlier this year, Entain reported it would be cutting 500 roles globally across operations and its central functions, it insisted it was not a reaction to the earlier increase in RGD, but rather part of new CFO Michael Snape’s restructuring and cost cutting exercise.

Entain said at the time: “As part of our ongoing focus on enhancing Entain’s operational efficiency and agility, we have begun implementing organisational changes which will regrettably impact a number of roles across the group over the months ahead.”