Crypto gaming and gambling campaigns are the most expensive way to acquire users with existing crypto wallets, ranking highest in cost among all sectors of the crypto industry, recent data shows.

“Gaming and gambling campaigns are the most expensive, with a median CPW of $8.74 and a lower quartile of $3.40,” Web3 marketing firm Addressable co-founder Asaf Nadler said in a recent report posted on X. CPW, or cost per wallet, is deemed a higher “quality” metric because it tracks the cost of website visitors with a crypto wallet already installed in their browser.

“Higher churn” rate may be to blame

Nadler previously told Cointelegraph that their analysis data showed that users with a wallet are more likely to convert to crypto products.

CPW across different regions during the bull markets in Q1 an Q4 of 2024. Source: Asaf Nadler

Nadler said the high cost-to-return ratio of crypto gaming and gambling might be due to “higher churn, speculative behavior, and intense competition.” He added:

“If Web3 gaming is truly “inevitable,” we need to find a more powerful UA engine to make it as sustainable as in Web2.”

However, Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff “JiHo” Zirlin said in an April 11 post on X that periods of high CPW are a good time to experiment.

“Create new games/product lines, consolidate our market share, and get ready for the next market expansion,” Zirlin said. “Know when it’s a coiling phase. Know when it’s time to explode,” he added.

Meanwhile, decentralized finance (DeFi) and Centralized Finance (CeFi) campaigns have it a lot easier with attracting new crypto users. “DeFi/CeFi campaigns are the most cost-efficient, with a median CPW of $2.79 and a lower quartile of just $0.10,” Nadler said.

The results are based on 200 programmatic campaigns run on Addressable by over 70 advertisers, claiming to target an estimated 9.5 million users globally.

CPW results across various sectors of the crypto industry. Source: Asaf Nadler

It tracks how CPW varies across market cycles, regions, campaign strategies, and audience segments.

Premium markets cost more to reach crypto users during downturns

Nadler said that while premium markets experience low-cost conversions for existing crypto wallet holders during bull runs, attracting their attention becomes significantly more expensive during market downturns. 

Related: Trump kills DeFi broker rule in major crypto win: Finance Redefined

He highlighted that in 2024, the US and Western Europe saw CPW increase by four times and 27 times, respectively, between Q1 and Q3, as the markets continued to consolidate and interest from crypto wallet holders waned.

“While these markets provide scale and quality during bull runs, they become significantly more expensive when sentiment turns bearish, making them less sustainable during downturns,” Nadler said.

Meanwhile, emerging markets like Latin America and Eastern Europe “offer exceptionally low CPW in favorable conditions but can experience extreme cost volatility.” 

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Senator Tim Scott, the chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, recently said that he expects a crypto market bill to be passed into law by August 2025.

The chairman also noted the Senate Banking Committee’s advancement of the GENIUS Act, a comprehensive stablecoin regulatory bill, in March 2025, as evidence that the committee prioritizes crypto policy. In a statement to Fox News, Scott said:

“We must innovate before we regulate — allowing innovation in the digital asset space to happen here at home is critical to American economic dominance across the globe.”

Scott’s timeline for a crypto market structure bill lines up with expectations from Kristin Smith, CEO of the crypto industry advocacy group Blockchain Association, of market structure and stablecoin legislation being passed into law by August.

The Trump administration has emphasized that comprehensive crypto regulations are central to its plans for protecting the value of the US dollar and establishing the country as a global leader in digital assets by attracting investment into US-based crypto firms.

Senator Tim Scott highlights the Senate Banking Committee’s goals and accomplishments in 2025. Source: Fox News

Related: Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry

Support for comprehensive crypto regulations is bipartisan

US lawmakers and officials expect clear crypto policies to be established and signed into law sometime in 2025 with bipartisan support from Congress.

Speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York City, on March 18, Democrat Representative Ro Khanna said he expects both the market structure and stablecoin bills to pass this year.

The Democrat lawmaker added that there are about 70-80 other representatives in the party who understand the importance of passing clear digital asset regulations in the United States.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, pictured left, President Donald Trump in the center, and crypto czar David Sacks, pictured right, at the White House Crypto Summit. Source: The White House

Khanna emphasized that fellow Democrats support dollar-pegged stablecoins due to the role of dollar tokens in expanding demand for the US dollar worldwide through the internet.

Bo Hines, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, also spoke at the conference and predicted that stablecoin legislation would be passed into law within 60 days.

Hines highlighted that establishing US dominance in the digital asset space is a goal with widespread bipartisan support in Washington DC.

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The US Social Security Administration (SSA) will move all public communications to the X social media platform amid sweeping workforce cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by X owner Elon Musk.

According to anonymous sources who spoke with WIRED, the government agency will no longer issue its customary letters and press releases to communicate changes to the public, instead relying on X as its primary form of public-facing communication.

The shift comes as the SSA downsizes its workforce from 57,000 employees to roughly 50,000 to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. The agency issued this statement in February 2025:

“SSA has operated with a regional structure consisting of 10 offices, which is no longer sustainable. The agency will reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions. The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.”

Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has accused the Social Security system of distributing billions of dollars in wrongful payments, a claim echoed by the White House. Musk’s comments sparked intense debate about the future of the retirement program and sustainable government spending.

Source: Elon Musk

Related: Musk says he found ‘magic money computers’ printing money ‘out of thin air’

DOGE targets US government agencies in efficiency push

The Department of Government Efficiency is an unofficial government agency tasked with identifying and curbing allegedly wasteful public spending through budget and personnel cuts.

In March, DOGE began probing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and gained access to its internal systems, including data repositories.

SEC officials signaled their cooperation with DOGE and said the regulatory agency would work closely with it to provide any relevant information requested.

Musk and Trump discuss curbing public spending and eliminating government waste. Source: The White house

DOGE also proposed slashing the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) workforce by 20%. The workforce reduction could impact up to 6,800 IRS employees and be implemented by May 15 — exactly one month after 2024 federal taxes are due.

Musk’s and the DOGE’s proposals for sweeping spending cuts are not limited to slashing budgets and reducing the size of the federal workforce.

DOGE is reportedly exploring blockchain to curb public spending by placing the entire government budget onchain to promote accountability and transparency.

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