Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that children cannot gamble using virtual currencies.

All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission. Licensed online gambling operators must have robust policies and procedures to prevent underage gambling. These measures are highly effective, with very few children able to open an online gambling account with either real or invented identities. There are also currently no licensed operators which allow payment using virtual currencies.

The government will also provide an additional £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over the next three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market.