Betting is pure gamble . Its full with uncertainties and you can lose all and everything. Trading with the right technique and knowledge will profit you both on short and long term
well, if you compare the two, maybe trading is still better, because you can control 100% of the funds you have. however, for now, I don't recommend both, especially if you're new to this. it's better to look for information, and see the market situation directly, it might give you a wise choice, because $ 2k is quite a lot.
in my opinion even though the market conditions are still bearish you can still take small opportunities to make a profit, you just need to monitor and look for opportunities to buy and sell, make sure you do it quickly. yeah $2k is a big capital, of course using all your money is not a wise thing, and gambling is also not the right method to make money