Video Games, Gambling, and Porn: Digital Expenditures and Deviant Behaviors Among Cryptocurrency Users

The proliferation of cryptocurrency has produced a growing population of digitally immersed consumers whose online activities and expenditures remain poorly understood in relation to crime and deviance. Using an online survey of 921 U.S. cryptocurrency users recruited nationwide, the present study examines whether various online experiences (i.e., social media use, scam exposure, and financial loss) and digital expenditures (i.e., subscription services, video games, sports betting, and pornography) are associated with six self-reported deviant and criminal behaviors, as well as a summed deviancy index. Logistic and negative binomial regression models revealed that spending on online pornography was the most robust and consistent correlate of deviance, significantly predicting every outcome and remaining salient across both sexes. Greater exposure to cryptocurrency-related scams, having lost money on cryptocurrency investments, and lower household incomes were also significantly associated with elevated offending, whereas general social media use and subscription spending were not. Sex-specific analyses indicated that pornography and sports betting predicted deviance among women, while men exhibited a broader risk profile. Findings are interpreted through the generality of deviance, routine activities, and strain perspectives and suggest that specific vice-oriented expenditures, rather than online presence per se, signal heightened behavioral risk.