Twitch Announces Ban Of Crypto Gambling Live Streams From Next Month

Twitch, the Amazon-owned video streaming service, announced it will prohibit live streams of crypto gambling on the platform, as well as crypto betting sites, starting Oct. 18.

Twitch announced it was making major changes to the platform to stop non-U.S.-based gambling companies from scrounging their users. In an update shared on Twitter earlier this week, the American video streaming platform said it will change its policies to ban unlicensed gambling and betting sites,

This includes roulette, or dice games and cited livestreaming gambling sites, such as Stake.com, Rollbit and Duelbits.com, which according to Twitch "aren't licensed either in the U.S. or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection."

However, the platform will still allow other forms of gambling, including sports betting, poker and fantasy sports.

"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 statement noted.

Twitch said it will provide more details on its gambling policy soon, and noted the changes included therein will take effect on Oct. 18.

Last month, Bloomberg released a report about the rise in popularity of gambling sites on Twitch. It revealed overseas casinos partnered with streamers to entice viewers into gambling using cryptocurrency. The report heavily cited Stake.com.

In a new report, Bloomberg noted more than 50,000 viewers watch Twitch celebrities play various games of chance like Blackjack, slots and many others, using cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. It also disclosed the site Stakes.com "sponsors" influencers "upwards of $1 million a month."

The latest change in the platform's gambling policy came on the heels of scandals involving Twitch users, who were drowned in the addictive world of gambling. Twitch streamer Sliker, who maintains over 400,000 followers on the platform, was accused of begging to borrow hundreds of thousands from followers, fans and fellow streamers.

The Twitch streamer's alleged abuse was well-documented, with discord chat logs photos showing Sliker asking for funds from his viewers. In a recent stream, the Twitch user admitted to many of these negative claims about him and blamed it on gambling.