1. Bitcoin mining is a service not a lottery. Miners work for a living.
Actually, the "service" that miners "do" is legally considered to be the "consideration" part of the lottery known as Bitcoin.
Bottom line, it is working and continues to grow.
Something that has consumed hundreds of millions of dollars fielding hundreds of thousands of useless computers only to lose 75% of its value in the past 15 months is not "working" or "growing". It's a burst bubble.