Safer gambling and consumer protection failings among 40 frequently visited cryptocurrency-based online gambling operators.

Abstract

Objective: Online gambling has increased the accessibility and range of gambling products available to people all over the world. This trend has been particularly noticeable in the United Kingdom. Cryptocurrency-based gambling is a new, largely unregulated, way to gamble online, which uses mostly anonymous blockchain-based technologies, such as Bitcoin. The present research investigated consumer protection features of 40 frequently visited and U.K.-accessible cryptocurrency-based online gambling operators. Method: A content analysis was performed by visiting all 40 cryptocurrency-based online operators and recording their safer gambling and consumer protection practices. Coded features included aspects of the sign-up process, features of any safer gambling pages, customer support practices, and Identity verification. Results: Results revealed significant failings in the account registration process; none of the operators verified the identity of new users, and 35% required only an email or no personal information for sign-up. Overall, 37.5% of operators offered no safer gambling tools and a further 20% offered only one. Additionally, 64.7% of operators continued to email promotional material after being informed of a user's impaired control when gambling. Less than half of the analyzed operators held a valid license (47.5%), and none of the operators with an available deposit page required identity verification before enabling deposits. Conclusions: These results highlight the potential risks for young and vulnerable individuals, especially when a lack of identity verification is paired with the inherent anonymity of cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for greater policy and research attention toward cryptocurrency-based online gambling. Public Health Significance StatementCryptocurrency-based gambling is a fast-growing gambling format, and top operators are heavily investing in consumer reach through sports advertisements. However, information on the safer gambling and consumer protection practices of frequently visited operators is nonexistent. The findings in this study showed significant failings in consumer protection and safer gambling practices, which suggest an increased risk of gambling-related harm in cryptocurrency-based gambling.

Cryptocurrencies as Gamblified Financial Assets and Cryptocasinos: Novel Risks for a Public Health Approach to Gambling

“…Further findings suggested that cryptocasinos could be considered riskier to gamble on than conventional online operators, even for people who can otherwise gamble online legally. Over 70% of the operators did not provide links to gambling or age filtering software in their pages, and 62.5% did not offer self-assessment tests (Andrade et al 2022). Rates were also generally worse than those found by similar previous studies on UK and Irish conventional online gambling operators (Bonello and Griffiths 2017;Catania and Griffiths 2021;Cooney et al 2021).…”

“…Cryptocasinos are a final related development considered by this review. Findings have shown that despite being widely unregulated, these casinos are easily accessible (Andrade et al 2022), while also being allowed to build an image of legitimacy through major sports advertisements and celebrity sponsorships (Newall and Xiao 2021;Davies and Rosca 2022). Additionally, substantial failings in consumer protection practices of online cryptocasino operators have been uncovered, which indicate an increased risk for underage and self-excluded individuals as well as those living in jurisdictions where online gambling is illegal, especially when the anonymity and volatility of cryptocurrencies are also considered (Andrade et al 2022).…”

“…Given the failure of edgeless cryptocasinos to date, other cryptocasinos have largely mimicked the form and range of products offered by conventional online gambling operators. A recent study investigated the safer gambling and consumer protection practices of forty frequently visited online crypto operators, such as their enforcement of age verification and the availability of safer gambling tools and messages (Andrade et al 2022). The findings showed substantial failings, especially when compared with previous analysis of similar criteria in conventional online operators from the UK and Ireland (Bonello and Griffiths 2017;Catania and Griffiths 2021;Cooney et al 2021).…”

“…Moreover, It is estimated that between 2014 and 2017, crypto casinos accepted over 24 billion bets, totaling four billion USD or 3.2 billion GBP (Brown 2022). Today, cryptocurrency gambling has gone from a theoretical possibility (Gainsbury and Blaszczynski 2017;Scholten et al 2020;Meng and Fu 2020) to a rapidly expanding market capable of offering consumers a wide range of sophisticated products that are easily comparable to conventional operators (Andrade et al 2022). These cryptocasinos have also reached new levels of popularity and legitimacy, sponsoring some of the biggest sports teams in the world (Newall and Xiao 2021), as well as mainstream celebrities (Davies and Rosca 2022).…”

“…As of January 2023, there have been eight peerreviewed studies conducted on cryptocurrency trading and its associations to gambling and gambling-related harm (Delfabbro et al 2021a;Johnson et al 2023;Kim et al 2020;Mills and Nower 2019;Oksanen et al 2022aOksanen et al , 2022bPhilander 2023;Sonkurt and Altınöz 2021;Steinmetz 2023). Additionally, seven peer-reviewed studies have been published on cryptocasinos with a focus on safer gambling features, gambling behaviour and/or policy and regulation (Brown 2022;Andrade et al 2022;Newall and Andrade 2022;Owens and Lavitch 2013), three of which focused on the less popular Dapps (Gainsbury and Blaszczynski 2017;Meng and Fu 2020;Scholten et al 2020), blockchain casinos that have remained largely theoretical when compared to widely popular web-based cryptocasinos, such as 'stake.com'.…”