Twitch Moves To Ban Casino Gambling

Even today, casinos have a particular stigma around them, which can influence future generations. In a switch turn of events, the major video streaming platform, Twitch, has updated its terms and conditions, ultimately imposing a ban on gambling for both fiat and crypto gambling.

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twitch-crypto-dappgambl-home

The ban intended by Twitch is primarily aimed at streamers gambling on unregistered casinos, especially crypto casinos, which have been known to allow user anonymity. Gambling streams have grown in popularity in the past couple of years, and streaming platforms are trying not to break legal norms.

The ban was implemented as of October 18th 2022, meaning that streamers who previously played on Stake.com, Duelbits.com, or any other unregulated casino will no longer be able to share referral links to such casinos, nor will they be able to live stream their time.

According to Twitch Tracker, casino gambling is almost as popular as the famous online game Fortnite, impacting both established personalities and the platform’s reputation. Unfortunately, this means that there has been some friction between top streamers and Twitch.

Popular gambling streamers threatened to stop streaming if crypto betting were not restricted.

Crypto casino streamers and lovers without a streaming platform are lucky because Twitch’s ban has opened new opportunities to capitalize on quite a big crypto sub-sector. In addition, casinos like LiveSpins can accommodate the needs of casino streamers, even boosting their current experience.

As Twitch is no longer an option for crypto gamblers because it does not meet regulatory standards, gamblers will only be able to gamble in authorized casinos. So the issue at hand was never the fact that users were gambling online; rather, it was gamers who claimed their exposure on Twitch was in danger.

To clarify the ban, Twitch has stated that it will ban casinos that “aren’t licensed either in the US or other jurisdictions,” given they’re unable to provide adequate customer support.

Attacking Gambling Anonymity

As crypto casinos provide a means for gamblers to play anonymously, regulatory bodies push them back to clamp down on it as it is often associated with bad actors. Without control over finances, governments are unable to monitor how money is spent, where it comes from, and how it enters the casino.

Twitch’s stance on crypto gambling is one of the reasons why the gambling industry still needs to push for further anonymity. As casinos will enter Web3, decentralization of finance will continue to expand. However, that’s only sometimes true as Metaverse casinos such as Slotie are asked to halt operations because they fear they are actively selling securities.

As long as cryptocurrencies remain in the grey area, crypto casinos such as Stake or other partly regulated ones can still provide players with gambling anonymity.

Vlad Hategan
Written by Vlad Hategan verified symbol NFT Gaming Specialist
139 Articles

Vlad has been active in the crypto space since early 2013 with a hands-on approach since late 2017. His focus has always been being able to showcase the value crypto brings to our digital landscape. That's why he tried almost every possible category from mining to NFT and ICOs - back in the day. In short, he enjoys every part of the blockchain space, from the community to the nitty gritty technological details.

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Reviewed and Fact Checked by Will Wood , Crypto Gambling Expert