A former board member of the Las Vegas Sands Corp is expected to make a pitch for a $3 billion casino in New York City with features that would be entirely unique to the property.
According to a report from Markets Insider, Jason Ader is submitting a proposal to build a casino in Manhattan that would feature a trading floor for cryptocurrencies. He plans to submit the idea to New York gaming regulators Friday, which is the deadline for applications to be submitted.
Regulators in the Empire State will eventually award licenses for three downstate casinos. Lawmakers from Manhattan made it abundantly clear that they are not interested in allowing a company to break ground on a casino in the borough, so Ader is also considering building the property in Long Island or in a neighboring borough.
The property is slated to be called “Mirai” which is Japanese for “future.” Along with a first-of-its-kind crypto trading floor, the casino will have an esports arena, a venue for live events, and a “landing pad for flying cars.”
Cryptocurrencies are generally traded on online exchanges. Unlike Wall Street, there is no official trading floor for these assets. While putting a trading floor in a casino gives trading more of a gambling connotation, the mindset between trading and poker is similar.
There are a plethora of high-stakes poker players that come from a trading background and plenty of former poker pros that left the game to go trade full time. There have been just as many, if not more, poker players that have benefitted from the rapid price appreciation in the cryptocurrency space as well.
Ader’s hope of owning a New York City casino will not be an easy dream to achieve. At the start of November, it was reported that there were six major casino companies vying for the three available licenses. Hard Rock International, Wynn Resorts, Bally’s, Las Vegas Sands, Genting, and MGM Resorts all have plans to submit a proposal as well.
New York authorized the creation of seven nontribal casino licenses in 2013, creating a commercial casino market for the first time in state history. Four were already awarded to upstate casinos and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo put a moratorium on downstate gaming until 2023, to give the upstate properties a chance to get on their feet and build a business.
With just 13 months before that moratorium expires, regulators are starting the licensing process so that downstate casinos can launch as soon as possible.