Guest article provided by IAGR partner, Greo Evidence Insights. 

Digital platforms are increasingly blending elements of gambling, investing, and gaming, creating environments where the lines between these activities are blurred. Features once unique to gambling, such as chance-based rewards, are now found in trading apps and gaming platforms. For example, cryptocurrency apps may use elements like reward streaks and social features to encourage engagement, while gaming ecosystems may offer skin betting and in-game asset trading that closely resemble financial markets. This trend, known as gamblification, can contribute to harmful behaviours for some individuals.

Fast-paced cryptocurrency markets, loot boxes with randomized rewards, and the monetization of digital assets all normalize risk-taking, often in settings with weaker consumer protections. Young people in particular may not recognize the gambling-like nature of activities such as skin betting or cryptocurrency trading, increasing their vulnerability to harm.

Current regulatory frameworks tend to treat gambling, gaming, and cryptocurrency as separate issues, but preventing harm in these rapidly evolving environments requires a proactive, cross-sector approach. There are opportunities for regulators, app developers, and prevention specialists to work together to implement safeguards such as transparent algorithm design, cooling-off periods, and age restrictions. Promoting digital and financial literacy can also help reduce risky behaviours before they escalate.

Recently published gambling research

Below is a selection of resources that may help inform regulatory action on emerging technologies as they relate to gambling. Please note that resources are selected based on relevance to the topic without formal assessment of quality and inclusion does not imply endorsement.

• Harms and risk factors associated with cryptocurrency speculation
• Cryptocurrency trading and its associations with problem gambling and mental health
• A scoping review of mental health factors associated with cryptocurrency trading
• The gamblification of cryptocurrencies: A narrative review of research studies
• Risk factors for problem gambling: A comparison of day traders and non-day traders in Canada
• The effects of financially focused self-concept and gambling motives on the relationships between cryptocurrency trading, day trading, and gambling
• The relationship between frequency of stock market trading and problem gambling
• Financial speculation in Canada and its relationship to gambling
• A review of how investing is “gamblified” and may lead to harm
• The association of esports betting and skin gambling with traditional gambling and gambling problems
• Adolescents’ esports betting, gaming, and gambling behaviours

Evidence-informed action

Regulators can consider the following examples when developing regulations on emerging technologies.

Belgium

In 2018, Belgium’s Gaming Commission ruled that loot boxes are a form of gambling because players pay for a chance to win randomized virtual items. Loot boxes with randomized rewards that can be traded or sold for real money have been officially declared illegal gambling. Some game companies had to remove or adjust loot boxes to comply with new regulations. However, recent research has found that despite the ban, 82% of Belgium’s highest-grossing iPhone games still featured loot boxes, suggesting challenges in enforcement.

• Video game loot boxes declared illegal under Belgium gambling laws
• Research report on loot boxes
• Loot boxes in Belgium

Germany

In 2021, Germany implemented stricter consumer protection measures under the revised Youth Protection Act (Jugendschutzgesetz) that aim to limit the risks of gambling-like behaviour in young people. The law mandates that games featuring loot boxes must include clear warning labels, age-appropriate classifications, and disclosures of probability for in-game item rewards. Games with features that encourage players to spend money can be given a higher age rating from the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, Germany’s official video game age-rating authority, potentially restricting young people from playing.

• Loot boxes in German gambling law

Want to explore how these issues are playing out in real time? Don’t miss Emerging and converging technologies: A focus on harm and harm-prevention at IAGR2025 in Toronto, where Matt Zarb-Cousin, Co-Founder of Gamban, will unpack the risks and regulatory implications of crypto, trading and skin betting.

Check out the full program for IAGR2025 here.