New Jersey’s casinos, horse tracks that offer sports betting and the online partners of both types of gambling outlets won $470.6 million from gamblers in August, up more than 10% from a year earlier, according to figures released Friday by state gambling regulators.

The amount of money won from in-person gamblers at casinos was nearly $274 million, up 4.4% from a year earlier. But that total still lagged behind the level of August 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, when the total was more than $286 million.

Returning to pre-pandemic levels for in-person gamblers has been the main goal of Atlantic City’s nine casinos, regardless of the fact that money from internet and sports betting continues to grow.

Fed eyes digital dollar

The Biden administration is moving one step closer to developing a central bank digital currency, known as the digital dollar, saying it would help reinforce the U.S. role as a leader in the world financial system.

The White House said on Friday that after President Biden issued an executive order in March calling on a variety of agencies to look at ways to regulate digital assets, the agencies came up with nine reports, covering cryptocurrency impacts on financial markets, the environment, innovation and other elements of the economic system.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said one Treasury recommendation is that the U.S. “advance policy and technical work on a potential central bank digital currency, or CBDC, so that the United States is prepared if CBDC is determined to be in the national interest.”

“Right now, some aspects of our current payment system are too slow or too expensive,” Yellen said on a Thursday call with reporters laying out some of the findings of the reports.