Is Crypto another form of gambling?

[Lorence.xD]

Well if you consider things things in crypto as gambling then there's nothing wrong about it since there's always a risk involve in this industry with it's volatility present, it makes everything risky. Maybe it only differs when it comes to actual gambling is that you couldn't rely on your luck and gut without having the knowledge you need in crypto. Like for example, in gambling for you to play and bet you must understand how the game works and it's rules before you can even start right? Same thing with crypto, you need to be familiarize first so you can understand that those risk can be lessen if you have more information such as techniques and experiences.

[goldkingcoiner]

I was kinda surprised when I read the news from Financial Times that the cross-section of the UK's MPs that seems to see it as needless to regulate cryptocurrency suggested that it should be viewed as "a form of gambling" and be regulated as such.

Without relying on my own understanding of "gambling," I quickly used the help of the Oxford Dictionary through Google, and it states;

1. Play games of chance for money; bet.
2. Take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

The second one seems to fit crypto best, so it's clear they know what they are saying.

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

Life itself is risky. Everything is risky. You go outside, there is a certain risk that something bad will happen. Maybe you will get hit by a car, maybe you get robbed, maybe you break a bone. Unlikely, but the risk is still there.

So by that notion, should everything be considered gambling? I do not think so. Crypto also is not gambling. It could be used as a medium for gambling, like on crypto gambling casinos or trading on a crypto exchange. But intrinsically, its not gambling in itself, no.

But then again, some people consider stock trading as gambling. That does not mean that owning stocks means you gamble.

[awik p]

a matter that is often debated between trading and gambling. I think this depends on each individual, with more traders who lose than those who survive, this can be explained logically. underlying the success of trading is psychology, in addition to money management and technical analysis. if we run everything well then we can make a portfolio according to plan, that's where the difference is, where real trading can be planned and targeted, while gambling cannot be planned long term, because it is based on luck alone

[BenCodie]

I was kinda surprised when I read the news from Financial Times that the cross-section of the UK's MPs that seems to see it as needless to regulate cryptocurrency suggested that it should be viewed as "a form of gambling" and be regulated as such.

Without relying on my own understanding of "gambling," I quickly used the help of the Oxford Dictionary through Google, and it states;

1. Play games of chance for money; bet.
2. Take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

The second one seems to fit crypto best, so it's clear they know what they are saying.

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

No it is not a form of gambling and to compare cryptocurrency to gambling is a very short-sided view (not surprising at all from some dim-witted "elite" from the UK).

The only similarity between cryptocurrency and gambling is risk. If you are day-trading cryptocurrency, you are participating in an activity that is as high-risk as gambling. The better you are, the less your actions are down to chance and the more you know your odds, therefore it is just a high risk action. If you don't know what you are doing, then you are gambling.

The same goes for buying and selling. If you don't know what you are doing, then you are gambling...as you do not know the risk : reward of your actions, you have not measured your potential for gains against losses, etc.

If you are someone who understands cryptocurrency, you understand market volatility, you use technical analysis to buy/sell when you can see overselling/overbuying, and fundamentally research to reason your trades and measure your odds....you aren't gambling. You are participating in an investment that is "risk-on" but you are not throwing your money down to chance.

TLDR:
Noob - puts money into cryptocurrency with no reason or research and leave success completely down to chance. - Yes, that's gambling.
Wise - does their due diligence, assesses/measures the risk/reward of their actions, reasons their actions before taking them.

Are we really creating laws to cater for noobs now? Are we really going to classify cryptocurrency as gambling because noobs won't better themselves?

Ridiculous.

[crypticj]

For sure. Especially considering that our community treats it like an asset and trade it to get money.

if there is a risk and profit opportunity that doesn't depend on you, then it's gambling.

Crypto literally has derivatives lol, it's the best sign that it got turned into gambling.

[laurenB7742]

For sure. Especially considering that our community treats it like an asset and trade it to get money.

if there is a risk and profit opportunity that doesn't depend on you, then it's gambling.

Crypto literally has derivatives lol, it's the best sign that it got turned into gambling.

It is also not wrong that some people consider cryptocurrencies to be gambling because they involve risk, and above all, it is just person's point of view. If you consider it a form of gambling, no one can argue with you, but just because you think it is gambling doesn't mean that others consider it is gambling too. Cryptocurrency is a financial market like stocks and forex, so you should also consider the other two as gambling. But for those with knowledge, they will not consider them gambling, but call it an investment, because winning or losing completely depends on you.
It's not like gambling that just depends on luck.

[landheer]

In my opinion, investing in crypto or trading in crypto, in my opinion, is not gambling because we all know that, crypto prices move because of market demand (buyer and seller demand) so in my opinion it does not contain an element of gambling because in business there are always profits and losses. .
but in crypto we have to be good at managing buying and selling strategies.

[Iranus]

I was kinda surprised when I read the news from Financial Times that the cross-section of the UK's MPs that seems to see it as needless to regulate cryptocurrency suggested that it should be viewed as "a form of gambling" and be regulated as such.

Without relying on my own understanding of "gambling," I quickly used the help of the Oxford Dictionary through Google, and it states;

1. Play games of chance for money; bet.
2. Take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

The second one seems to fit crypto best, so it's clear they know what they are saying.

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

Even our life is a gamble, if you live with no direction, no goal, no plan, and you ignore life, then your life is also a gamble, nothing more and nothing less. When you invest and do business without any plan, you just follow your feelings and what you think is right, that is also gambling. People who consider cryptocurrency as gambling are ignorant and do not have any knowledge about it. They only look at the surface, see the risk, and hastily conclude it is gambling. For these types of people, it is advisable to stay away and limit arguing with them because their limited knowledge only wastes our time.

[Dr.Osh]

Of course I don't agree with this. if crypto is equated with gambling, then so are stocks and other things like that. I think this is set up to attract the attention of ordinary people so they think that crypto is gambling. However, a lot of crypto is based on real, or worthwhile, projects. maybe there are some cryptos that have projects related to gambling, but not all of them are like that, for example ethereum, and binance. I think they write things like that to attract readers or create FUD.

[Poker Player]

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling?

Some people behave when dealing cryptocurrencies like when they go to the casino, so yes, it is somewhat similar. What I do not agree with is that the regulation is the same. The same thing happens with the stock market, there are those who trade like those who go to the casino and you can imagine how they end up. But there are intelligent investors who make a good profit from the stock market. Therefore, for me the regulation of cryptocurrencies should be more similar to the existing regulation on the stock market.

[Stella Mese]

Indeed, there are always many people who say crypto investment is gambling, even though in my opinion bitcoin investment is not gambling because we buy and sell btc according to the agreement, just try to look at the crypto exchange whether you see gambling or not? but as far as I know there is no gambling at all.

even if someone loses from investing in bitcoin, in my opinion, it cannot be called a loss if it has not been sold, because the price of btc has the potential to rise again. and btc has a fluctuating nature. so the point is in investing in btc, practice patience and endurance, , and btc investments are not regulated by other people, so in my opinion, investing in btc cannot be called gambling.

[fuguebtc]

If you invest with knowledge, it cannot be called gambling, but if you invest without knowledge, it is gambling. So there is nothing wrong with some people saying that investing in bitcoin is gambling because it involves risk, involves winning and losing. But not just with cryptocurrencies, I think all financial markets are like that. It's all gambling if one has no knowledge of it, and it would be an investment for those with the knowledge.

Whatever it is, it's just a name, it doesn't really matter to me. If gambling can make a profit and enrich me, I don't have too much of a problem with that name.

[Adams0001]

Not at all. Because it is a slang term for cryptocurrencies and its related functions, the term crypto embraces a wide range of minor issues.

In the case of new and ignorant consumers attempting to invest in volatile cryptocurrency marketplaces, bitcoin may be associated with gambling.

Because of the volatility of cryptocurrency markets, investing in it is compared to gambling. However, without a good understanding of investment, one could argue that everything is a gamble.

[Wexnident]

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

I mean, investments can also be a gamble if you just willy-nilly do it. Heck any decision-making can become a sort of "gamble". Even if we consider that gambling would require the involvement of money, well, there are still a LOT of instances where any decision-making actually relates to as a gamble.

Now I don't really agree with it, but it's mostly because my personal meaning of gambling is to use the money to enjoy a game that rewards me with, well, money. The keyword is "enjoy". I have, for one, never enjoyed looking at crypto charts for a single moment, regardless if it was me profiting or not (mostly not tbh).

[Aikidoka]

~snip~
1. Play games of chance for money; bet.
2. Take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

The second one seems to fit crypto best, so it's clear they know what they are saying.

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

Obviously, the first option is wrong since crypto is not merely a game to be played. However, the second option seems more appropriate imo. Like when discussing about investing in crypto, it involves taking a risky action with the hope of making a profitable return. Gambling is primarily based on luck, usually around 70% to 80% reliant on luck in real-life events, and 100% reliant on luck in slots. On the other hand, when it comes to Bitcoin and other crypto, the level of risk can be reduced a lot if you possess a good knowledge about how the crypto market works. By investing wisely, you can avoid that much risks and potentially make a good return later.

[jeraldskie11]

I was kinda surprised when I read the news from Financial Times that the cross-section of the UK's MPs that seems to see it as needless to regulate cryptocurrency suggested that it should be viewed as "a form of gambling" and be regulated as such.

Without relying on my own understanding of "gambling," I quickly used the help of the Oxford Dictionary through Google, and it states;

1. Play games of chance for money; bet.
2. Take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

The second one seems to fit crypto best, so it's clear they know what they are saying.

Now, do you agree that crypto should be seen as a form of gambling? And if this eventually comes through, what should we expect as the constraints it might still bring to the crypto space?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, gambling is only called such if you don't know what you're doing. Because cryptocurrency is so volatile, entering the market without any information is just gambling. Many people lose a lot of money in cryptocurrencies due to excitement and investing and trading without understanding how to assess the market. So it's important to understand what you're doing before you decide to trade or invest in order to reduce risks and potentially increase your income in the future.

[TheUltraElite]

UK MPs can say what they want, it does not change what bitcoin is.

Bitcoin trading may be a gamble but crypto itself is not. I think this is what they were trying to say while making this statement. Considering the past history of volatile prices and people making money off those price by speculating, crypto trading becomes a gamble, though I feel the term is more applicable to the types of trading other than long term spot trading.

Because certain groups of people are against gambling the politicians want to rouse them by using this term. It is better to ignore these lines than attempt to correct them.

[Captain Corporate]

Too many people are acting as if there are situations where you need to end up with a "bet" and that's the trouble in the market. In any case, I do not think that its gambling, if buying up stocks is not gambling, and if forex is not gambling, if gold is not gambling, hell even keeping your money at fiat is not gambling, then crypto is not gambling neither. I believe that we are doing fine right now and that should be the case for the longest time. I know that its going to take some time but we will end up with a good situation when the time comes and we need to focus on what we could do when we can. Just invest smartly, do not be doing anything crazy and that would be a good thing for you in the end, making silly investments could be risky.

[bitzizzix]

I don't care about that statement. Indeed, many equate investing in crypto and even stocks with gambling, and usually their argument is due to uncertainty. And crypto investment is also uncertain, it can go up or down.
But this is a weak argument, and it could be that all activities in life are equated with gambling.
Later in college can also be considered gambling because the results are uncertain, you can get a job or you can also be unemployed. Marriage is also gambling, can be happy can also be miserable. Opening a gambling coffee shop business, olshop business and other businesses can be said to be gambling because it can generate profits or losses, and all of that is uncertainty.
and the most important thing for me is, i only want my money to grow through bitcoin in the form of long term investment. Because actually I never lose because I never sell when it goes down and always sell when the price goes up or reaches a new ATH, it's not like gambling because I lose more than I win and this is clearly different. And I'm talking about reality not about knowledge of either.

[kryptqnick]

What something is de facto can be quite different from what something is de jure. Sometimes it's just easier for authorities to approximate one thing to something else for regulation purposes because that something else can the regulations worked out.
The second definition provided by the op seems close enough to crypto investment. Also, I googled and there are no taxes on gambling winnings in the UK, so if regulating crypto investment as a form of gambling would mean zero taxes on crypto gains in the UK, I think that's very nice.