Is Day Trading And Crypto Trading Addictive?
- Neil Philbin MSc MBACP
- Aug 3
- 5 min read
A few years ago, when people thought about addiction, day trading and cryptocurrency probably weren't on the list. Today, that's changing fast, and not just in the addiction field. The UK's own gambling regulator has started asking serious questions about it. In short: yes, for a growing number of people, day trading and crypto trading can become genuinely addictive. Not because charts and candlesticks are inherently dangerous, but because the experience of trading, especially high-frequency, high-volatility trading, taps into exactly the same psychological mechanisms as gambling.
What the evidence actually shows
This isn't just anecdotal. Research is starting to catch up with what clinicians have been seeing in their consulting rooms for years.The Gambling Commission has found that problem gamblers are far more likely to hold cryptocurrency than the general population, and dramatically more likely to trade through mobile apps. People already vulnerable to problem gambling are also checking these apps compulsively: roughly a third are logging in daily, and a meaningful proportion are trading every single day, regardless of whether there's any real financial reason to. Academic research backs this up too.
A study of over 500 regular traders and bettors found that gambling and problem gambling scores were highest among people who did both sports betting and crypto trading, and that the more intensely someone traded (time spent, number of trades, money at stake), the more closely their behaviour resembled compulsive gambling. One widely cited estimate suggests roughly one in ten day traders show signs of genuine addiction to the activity itself, not just the outcome - We believe the actual figure is much higher. This pattern has become significant enough that at least one residential UK addiction treatment centre now treats day trading and crypto addiction as a distinct category, alongside gambling, drug and alcohol dependency.
Why trading can hook the brain like gambling does
Day trading and crypto share almost everything that makes gambling psychologically compelling:- Unpredictable, intermittent rewards. Not knowing when the next win is coming is more compelling to the brain than knowing a reward is guaranteed. Markets deliver this perfectly.-
Near-misses and rapid re-engagement. A trade that almost worked out feels like "almost winning," which research shows can be just as motivating as an actual win, pulling people straight back in for another attempt.- Constant availability. Unlike a betting shop with opening hours, crypto markets never close. There's no natural pause built into the day.-
The "it's not gambling, it's investing" narrative. Because trading is dressed up in financial language, spreadsheets, charts, "portfolios", it can feel like a legitimate skill-based pursuit rather than a risk-based one. This makes it easier to justify to yourself and harder to recognise when it's become a problem.-
Chasing losses. Just as with gambling, a loss often doesn't lead to stepping back. It leads to "revenge trading", putting more in to try to win back what was lost, which tends to deepen the hole rather than fill it.
'Prop Firms' or casinos??
Hundreds of so called 'Proprietary Trading Companies' have popped up in the last few years. They masquerade as providing capital for skilled traders to trade with for a percentage - but actually capitalise on trading addiction in huge way, making almost all their profit from people, often addicted - failing their eligibility challenges - for which they pay a fee or subscription.
These companies have grown rapidly by marketing themselves as a shortcut into professional trading, offering flashy discount codes, "challenge" evaluations, and leaderboard-style promotions that closely mirror casino marketing tactics: low-cost entry, the promise of a life-changing payout, and constant reminders of other people's wins. Topstep, one of the largest firms in the space, publishes its own 2025 performance data showing that only 16.8% of people who start a Trading Combine ever pass it, and of those who do, just 33.3% go on to receive a single payout, meaning roughly 1 in 18 people (5.6%) who begin the process ever see any money at all. Meanwhile, the firm itself has proven highly profitable: investigative reporting based on legal documents found Topstep generated over $25 million in revenue in both 2020 and 2021, with EBITDA exceeding $3.7 million in 2020 alone, and industry estimates suggest that figure has likely grown substantially since. The imbalance is stark: a business model where the overwhelming majority of paying participants walk away empty-handed, while the company collecting their evaluation fees continues to scale
Signs it may have become a problem
Trading itself isn't the issue for most people who do it. What matters is the relationship to it. Some signs worth paying attention to, in yourself or someone you care about:- Checking prices or your portfolio compulsively, including during work, at night, or first thing on waking- Trading (or wanting to trade) to relieve stress, boredom, or low mood, rather than as a considered financial decision- Increasing the size or frequency of trades to get the same emotional "hit"- Lying to a partner or family about how much time or money is going into trading- Continuing to trade after significant losses, chasing them rather than stopping- Feeling irritable, anxious, or low when unable to check or trade- Trading money that was meant for something else (bills, savings, family expenses)
If several of these feel familiar, it's worth taking seriously, in the same way you would with any other form of problem gambling.
You are not being dramatic
One of the hardest parts of this particular addiction is that it doesn't look like addiction. There's no substance, no obvious external sign, and the language around it ("investing", "the markets", "building a portfolio") makes it easy to dismiss, by others and by yourself. That gap between how serious it feels internally and how it's perceived externally can make people feel isolated, or reluctant to ask for help because it doesn't seem to "count." It counts. The distress, the financial strain, the compulsive checking, and the toll on relationships are real, whatever the activity is called.
Getting support
If trading, day trading, or crypto has stopped feeling like something you're in control of, confidential, non-judgemental support is available. As an addiction specialist psychotherapist, I work with the same underlying patterns, compulsion, chasing losses, loss of control, that sit behind gambling addiction, applied to the specific realities of trading and crypto markets.You don't need to have "hit rock bottom" to reach out. Early support often makes the biggest difference.
**Get in touch for a confidential conversation about how counselling can help.**
*Sources: Gambling Commission (FOI response on cryptocurrency and problem gambling); Mills & Nower (2019), Addictive Behaviors; study of 543 traders/bettors, PubMed (2021); Castle Craig Hospital clinical observations.*
Comments