Personally, I am not really against that. I like sites that have their own token (chips, betfury) and who are related to a dividend system. It gives a motivation to the players to keep playing and wagering, because the more you play, the more tokens you will receive and thus the higher your (daily) dividend.
I see it the same way. Own coins in combination with leveling systems, (with "goodies" per level), tend to keep me longer on their site than platforms without comparable systems. Leveling systems are great for long-term motivation and it's much harder to switch to another casino because you don't want to give up your progress.