If there’s one thing that is nearly impossible to knock down, it has got to be the darknet (fragments of the internet where illegal buying and selling of products is regulated with cryptocurrency). Not only has it been difficult for Law enforcement agencies to get the Internet rid of its shady parts, the darknet has also grown significantly stronger over the past decade.
In addition to that, the bitcoin amount involved in this business has only increased over the last few years. It should be noted that there was a slight decline in the otherwise rising curve between 2017 and 2018. This decline can be attributed to the shutting down of Hansa market and AlphaBay around that time. However, consistency prevailed for other parts of the darknet.
The thorough research was conducted by Chainalysis and their assessment is that Hydra (a Russian language market) experienced a significant increase in bitcoin traffic after the closing of AlphaBay, indicating a potential redirection of cryptocurrency. Thus, the flow of bitcoins and the buying and selling of goods remained constant between 2017 and 2018, even after two of the markets closed.
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In addition to that, the bitcoin amount involved in this business has only increased over the last few years. It should be noted that there was a slight decline in the otherwise rising curve between 2017 and 2018. This decline can be attributed to the shutting down of Hansa market and AlphaBay around that time. However, consistency prevailed for other parts of the darknet.
The thorough research was conducted by Chainalysis and their assessment is that Hydra (a Russian language market) experienced a significant increase in bitcoin traffic after the closing of AlphaBay, indicating a potential redirection of cryptocurrency. Thus, the flow of bitcoins and the buying and selling of goods remained constant between 2017 and 2018, even after two of the markets closed.
"As law enforcement gets better at shutting down centralized darknet markets, a new distributed model for darknet market activity has emerged.", noted a new report titled 'Crypto Crime Report Decoding increasingly sophisticated hacks, darknet markets, and scams' by Chainalysis. Adding further, "Top law enforcement officials tell us that criminals are migrating increasingly to encrypted messaging apps including Telegram and WhatsApp to execute illegal transactions.".In the end, it should also be taken into account that although the digital currency’s presence experienced a 14 percent setback, bitcoin experienced a 14,040 percent growth in the dark web. Due to this, it has been nearly impossible to keep track of the activities going on in the underground market places.
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