[Ygg2]

I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss the causal links.

Online games have a strong gambling component - lootboxes, randomized awards, etc.

An advance enough, Skinner box is indistinguishable from slot machine.

[HideousKojima]

Except you actually sometimes get money back from the slot machine, with gaming lootboxes/gacha/microtransactions you're just getting imaginary digital goods that will disappear as soon as the company shuts down the game's servers.

[Ygg2]

You are being trained to earn intermittent rewards. Not to earn money. Getting money is merely a formality/justification.

[sdenton4]

First currency is only as good as the government that prints it, maaaan. (/me hits bong, buys more bitcoin.)