Gamban: 56% see cryptocurrency as gambling

Gamban will expand its gambling block software’s controls on cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms. 

UK.- Gamban, the provider of gambling blocking software, has said it will expand its tool to block access to more cryptocurrency exchanges, foreign exchange and binary options platforms.

The company had already announced it was starting to block some cryptocurrency and stock trading platforms last year, saying that they fell into a “gambling grey area“.

It says it’s now expanding that measure after carrying out research into whether such forms of trading were viewed as gambling. Its survey found that 56 per cent of respondents believed investment in cryptocurrency to be a form of gambling, and 48 per cent saw stock trading as gambling.

The company said it recognised the growing popularity of the platforms but noted that they had a “significant capacity for harm due to exposure to risk from speculative trading and volatility”.

It said: “We recognise to some of our users, this approach will appear quite blunt. However, we feel that where inappropriately regulated products emerge, which exist at the intersection between gambling and investing, but are more akin to speculating, Gamban must block these if it is to remain the safety net our users rely on.”

Based in the UK, Gamban has expanded to offer services in other jurisdictions, including with Norsk Tipping in Norway. 

The UK online bank Monzo has called for all UK banking providers to be required by law to offer blocks on gambling transactions.