Despite BTC Price Crash, Darknet Activity Is Stronger Than Ever

Even though the market crashes of last year have turned many people away from the market and sent many newcomers running for the hills, Bitcoin is still a popular means of payment for darknet surfers.

For those that don’t know, the darknet refers to parts of the internet which are globally hidden away from the public view so that users take part in illegal actions and be free of outside interference.

Reports have surfaced this week regarding the darknet and Bitcoin saying that the leading cryptocurrency has been re-emerging in the darknet ecosystem despite the crash in the market. In addition to Bitcoin’s crash in the market, the amount of action on the darknet in 2017 dropped due to the closures of Hansa and AlphaBay but with transactions rising once more, they should be expected to grow.

“Use of bitcoin as a form of payment doubled in 2018 on darknet market sites, where users can buy anything from illegal drugs to fake IDs, even though the price of the cryptocurrency crashed, according to a study by data firm Chainalysis.”

The significant growth over the past year has convinced many that this is just the start and that the numbers will keep growing throughout this next year.  

According to ZyCrypto, “Bitcoin transaction volumes on darknet markets rose throughout 2018 to an average of $2 million daily, nearly double the activity measured at the start of the year, according to Chainalysis,”

A senior economist at Chainalysis, Kim Grauer spoke on the subject saying that the rollercoaster nature of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency markets haven’t really had an impact on the sales of Bitcoin on the darknet. “For someone who wants to buy something on a dark marketplace, the fact that bitcoin price is fluctuating doesn’t really matter.”

Chainalysis have backed this statement by saying that the numbers from last year when transactions grew as the tear went on and price of Bitcoin took a turn for the worse.

There are still other things that could harm the volume of transactions in the future. Reuters explains that there are “several factors could disrupt the rise of bitcoin flows into these markets this year. These include more closures of markets by law enforcement and the movement of activity from these venues to encrypted messaging apps to avoid detection.”

The darknet activity use with Bitcoin is proof that digital assets have a real-world value but the illegal behaviour surrounding it could hurt cryptos image in the future.

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