Crypto traders bet on YouTuber Lord Miles dying in the desert

People are concerned that travel vlogger Lord Miles died after gamblers placed $8 million worth of trades on a crypto prediction market related to his dangerous commitment to complete a 40-day fast in the desert. The betting market is incredibly still live and accepting trades despite the rumors of his death.

Whether he has actually perished is unclear as of publication time, though he has not responded to a Protos journalist who reached out via direct messages on X.

Miles has 177,000 followers on YouTube and 341,000 followers on X and has previously performed stunts such as living with the terrorists.

This week, the odds rate plummeted on Miles’ ability to complete a 40-day fast in the desert. Since seven days ago, the market has fallen from 67% to a low of 16% earlier today.

The market includes an explicit prohibition against consumption of “any food or calories other than water and electrolytes” in order to “succeed” at the fast.

Language explaining that not consuming calories can cause death was conveniently omitted from Polymarket’s description. Although starvation can cause death, trades on the market are not necessarily direct bets on Miles’ death.

Donald Trump Jr. must be proud of Polymarket

Polymarket boasts Donald Trump Jr. as an adviser, added after his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, made an investment in the platform.

Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, recently paid $112 million to acquire QCEX and its US-designated contract market (DCM) license to bring its binary options to US traders that it claims to have banned to date.

That the market exists on Polymarket in the first place is incredible. In a press release including Trump Jr. in the headline, Polymarket boasted that it lets “people bet on what they actually believe will happen in the world” – including whether online provocateurs will consume calories.