> Investing is putting money into (hopefully) productive use, like a company with revenue, in an expectation of a return

The big differences are time horizon, addiction and expectations.

The longer the term, the less actively one must watch it and the lower the expected returns, the more likely it’s investing. The shorter the expected turnaround, the more closely one watches numbers go up and down, and the more one is focused on turning multiples than yields, the more likely it’s gambling.

Any stochastic process can produce gambling behaviour. Only a positive-sum game can facilitate investing.