Key Takeaways
- Twitch still allows slots, virtual casinos, and poker streams despite a broad ban in 2022.
- Kick’s co-founders also created crypto betting platform Stake.
- The Slots and Casinos category on Kick has recorded over 37 million watched hours in the past 30 days.
Twitch, the most popular livestreaming platform with 1.49 billion hours watched, put heavy restrictions on gambling streams in 2022.
Shortly after, Kick launched and absorbed this loss by openly allowing gambling on its site, and even allowing online casinos to sponsor its streamers, pushing it to become the fourth most popular category on the platform.
Twitch Gambling
Twitch, the world’s most popular streaming platform with an average of 2 million viewers every week, is home to a huge variety of streams.
It features video games, live music, DJs, esports, casual chatting, art classes, software development, and everything in between. This includes gambling, though in a limited form.
In 2022, it began cracking down on casino and gambling content after the community raised concerns about the content.
On Oct. 18th, 2022, the site prohibited users from streaming gambling sites “that include slots, roulette, or dice games” that aren’t licensed in the U.S. or other regions with “sufficient” consumer protections.
However, it will continue to allow sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker.
The ban affected popular crypto gambling sites such as Stake.com and resulted in Twitch’s gambling categories, such as slots, dropping from being the 10th most viewed category to 48th since the ban in 2022.
Kick Streams
Naturally, the shift in policy created a huge gap in the market for a streaming platform to soak up the millions of hours of Twitch’s lost viewing time.
In December 2022, Kick was launched as a direct competitor and quickly rose to prominence through major partnerships with the UFC, streamers such as XQC and Adin Ross.
Until very recently, this lineup also included Drake.
It also allows gambling, casino, and crypto gaming streams, under its “Slots & Casino Category,” with the likes of Drake often going viral for his outlandish plays.
At present, it’s the 4th most popular category on Kick with over 8.5 million hours watched in the past 7 days and 37.3 million watched in the past 30 days.
Stake.com is by far the most prominent crypto casino featured on Kick, which is largely due to the ethically dubious matter of Kick’s co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani also being the co-founders of Stake.
Trusted Partners with Special Offers
Eddie is a gaming and crypto writer at CCN. Covering the often weird and wonderful world of Web3 with an adoring, but skeptical eye.
Prior to CCN, Eddie has spent the past seven years working his way through the crypto, finance, and technology industry. He began with PR and journalism with Bitcoin PR Buzz and BitcoinNews.com, eventually working his way to become a copywriter with a dozen firms, including the likes of Polkadot before returning to journalism in 2023.
Having studied Radio production and journalism at University in the UK, Eddie spent a few years making podcasts and presenting on a local London radio station as he built up his writing chops.
A lifelong skateboarder, Eddie can often be found at the skatepark or touring the streets looking for something new to try. That, or kicking back playing JRPGs on his original PSP.
