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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has criticized the UK’s hawkish stance on crypto, comparing it with its more lenient approach to gambling. In an interview with The Times, Tenev expressed surprise at the scale of the United Kingdom’s gambling industry, pointing out that it was much larger than that of the United States.
However, he added: “But on a policy level, it’s just strange to me that, like: ‘the gambling will continue, but suddenly, with crypto and margin trading, we would have a problem with that.’ That just seems backwards to me.”
As reported by ReadWrite, Robinhood introduced its crypto stock offerings to the UK market last year. Last month, the crypto-focused financial platform expanded its services by launching margin trading, allowing customers to amplify their investments by borrowing funds from the company.
Tenev stated: “It’s pretty clear that [British] customers love the product, and they’re looking to bring all of their financial activities to Robinhood.
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“We have the potential to really be people’s financial home in the UK market.”
Rise in gambling addictions in the UK as crypto becomes more popular
That said, Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, sparked controversy this summer by stating that an increasing number of young men were seeking help at NHS gambling clinics due to being “addicted” to trading cryptocurrencies.
Tenev appeared to play down the issue, saying: “I was surprised when I went to the UK by just how much bigger gambling was than in America. Like, you can almost go into every street corner and sit down and gamble on sports.
“I think people should be allowed to do what they want.”
Earlier this year, Will Davis, service manager at the National Centre for Behavioural Addictions, noted an increase in addictive behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. He stated: “After the pandemic we noticed more people were addicted to online gambling, because access to physical betting shops stopped.
“The landscape is changing rapidly, especially with mobile phones. A positive development is software apps that can block websites, which works well for a lot of people.”
Featured image: Canva
