The UK's National Health Service has reported that more young people in the UK are being treated for gambling addiction stemming from cryptocurrency trading.
Speaking at ConfedExpo on Wednesday, NHS chief Amanda Pritchard said people today are more likely to become addicted to gambling as the methods used to keep people hooked become "increasingly sophisticated".
Pritchard referred to a statement by the UK's National Gambling Clinic, part of the National Health Service, that the country's younger generation is increasingly hooked on gambling with "unregulated cryptocurrency markets."
Indeed, much of the current hype around meme coins can be compared to a casino: traders are betting that the price of an asset will either skyrocket or hit rock bottom, either within a week or just five minutes.
A study carried out by the UK Gambling Commission last year found that 2.5% of the British population may have “problem gambling”. Such addiction “harms the individual and his family and often disrupts his daily life and career.” By the way, the figure of 2.5% was eight times higher than previous results.
The Commission also found that gambling addicts are much more likely to own and invest in cryptocurrency through mobile trading apps such as eToro and Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) than non-addicted gamblers. A UK gambling addiction helpline has reported an increase in the number of people seeking help with risky day trading addictions, including cryptocurrency trading.
In May 2023, a select committee of the UK Treasury published a report arguing that cryptocurrency should be regulated in the same way as gambling. Its creators believe that fiat cryptoassets have “neither intrinsic value nor a useful social purpose,” and that regulating cryptocurrency as a financial service “would create a halo effect,” leading consumers to believe that the activity is safe and secure when in fact in reality this is not the case."
Two months later, the UK government rejected the report's recommendations, saying the gambling regulatory system would fail to address the risk factors associated with events such as the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
