Twitch, a leader in live-streaming, has announced that it will take extra measures to crack down on unauthorized crypto-gambling material on its platform, in response to significant reaction from its top artists. Twitch has chosen to block live-streaming gambling services such as Stake.com, Rollbit, and Duelbits.com beginning on October 18. According to the Amazon-owned business, these sites "are not licensed in the United States or other jurisdictions that offer adequate consumer protection." Twitch stated that it had "seen certain individuals exposing our community to possible harm."
The company noted that it currently prohibits the distribution of links or referrals that involve slot machines, roulette, or dice games, but that these regulations were being evaded.
Twitch clarified, "We will continue to let websites that focus on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker."
This week, the issue of gambling among renowned Twitch streamers has gained fresh relevance, in part due to Sliker, a popular Twitch streamer who revealed on a live over the weekend to a strong addiction to betting on the outcome of CS:GO matches. The streamer admitted to defrauding friends and fans of over $200,000 (about Rs. 1.60 lakh) to cover his gambling bills.
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Many prominent streamers threatened to leave Twitch if the network would not prohibit or regulate gambling in response to the scandal.
According to Bloomberg, the rapid increase in gambling live streaming on Twitch has led to addiction and worrying debt for some users. Stake.com, situated in Curacao, sponsors prominent streamers — including celebrities, such as artist Drake — with millions of dollars per month to wager bitcoin in front of their fans on Twitch.
It appears that Stake's aggressive marketing plan has paid off. Viewers were becoming captivated and wanting to participate themselves. In contrast to the streams they were watching, however, their losses were not covered by absurd sponsorship deals.
