| The ban on crypto gambling takes effect on October 18. Twitch faced backlash over recent multi-million dollar sponsorship deals. The platform will continue to stream sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker. |
According to an official Twitter post, the American live video streaming service, Twitch, will ban gambling sites such as Stake.com, Rollbit, and Duelbits.com that “aren’t licensed either in the US or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection.”
The ban on crypto gambling takes effect on October 18. The Amazon-owned streaming service is banning the controversial cryptocurrency gambling live stream in response to backlash over recent multi-million dollar sponsorship deals enjoyed by top Twitch personalities.
Twitch announced a change in Livestream gambling on Tuesday, stating that crypto gambling streaming exposes their community to potential harm.
The statement goes:
While we prohibit sharing links or referral codes to all sites that include slots, roulette or dice games, we’ve seen some people circumvent those rules and expose our community to potential harm.
The platform will, however, continue to allow live streaming for websites focused on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker. According to the company, the ban might be expanded to other sites and contents according to the status of the problem.
A recent Bloomberg report on the same revealed that over 50,000 people are watching Twitch celebrities play slots, Blackjack, and other games of chance at any given time. They are all mainly using cryptocurrencies like Ether and Bitcoin for gambling. According to Tyler Faraz “Trainwreck” Niknam, a gamer, the creators make up to a million dollars per month from gambling companies.
Twitch streamers and viewers alike have spoken out against gambling live streams. This week, several top Twitch personalities threatened to halt live streaming on Twitch if the company did not act on gambling.
Frank DiGiacomo, an attorney who leads the gaming law group at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia, says that gambling is illegal in the US, even though it is permitted in other countries. Canada has been welcoming crypto operators, likely one reason why some streamers have relocated there. So now, if they live in areas that do not provide adequate consumer protection, they will no longer be able to live stream.
