With both Powerball’s and Mega Millions’ jackpots sitting at more than $300 million, the rival lotteries could be in for a historic holiday weekend. But another kind of sweepstakes has been sweeping the nation (and the globe) in recent months — Bitcoin has gone on a tear, with its valuation climbing from $800 to $16,000 in 2017 alone. But a new Bitcoin lottery with even better odds than Powerball and Mega Millions could help increase the Bitcoin price further.
Boasting the “world’s first regulated Bitcoin jackpot,” Irish online gambling website Lottoland is advertising a 1,000 Bitcoin jackpot, currently worth just over $14 million. The “pick-6” game consists of numbers one to 49, and offers a 1-in-7 chance of winning a prize. In plain old odds, players have a 1 in 13,983,816 chance at scoring the Bitcoin Lotto jackpot, which winners can take either in traditional or cryptocurrency denominations. (It’s worth noting that the game is officially closed to players from the U.S.)
Meanwhile, Mega Millions, which has a $306 million jackpot associated with its Friday drawing, is also a pick-6 game, but it draws its numbers from two different pools, significantly altering the odds. To win the Mega Millions jackpot, players need to match all six numbers, five of which come from a 1-70 pool and the other coming from a 1-25 pool. This generates 1 in 302,575,350 odds, though the payout is certainly higher (at least with Friday’s Mega Millions results).
Another pick-6 game, Powerball has a similar scheme to Mega Millions, with players again drawing numbers from two groups. The first pool goes from one to 69, and the second goes from one to 26. Winning the jackpot requires players to match all six numbers, and there’s only a one in 292,201,338 chance of doing that. The Powerball drawing takes place on Saturday, and the current top prize is $384 million.
Winning the combined Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots still wouldn’t be the largest single lottery prize in history. But if you combine it with winning the Bitcoin Lotto — and the cryptocurrency’s bubble doesn’t burst — you may have a chance to break some records.
