Daily bitcoin transactions on darknet markets doubled during 2018
However, bitcoin usage for murky transactions is down from 2017, due to increased law-enforcement activity
New York — 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 crypto-currency crashed, according to a study by data firm Chainalysis. Bitcoin transaction volumes on darknet markets rose throughout 2018 to an average of $2m a day, nearly double the activity measured at the start of the year, according to Chainalysis. Overall, bitcoin flowing into darknet markets fell to $600m in 2018 from $700m a year earlier, Chainalysis found. The dip was attributable to the closure of major markets AlphaBay and Hansa in mid-2017, which hampered flows until the start of last year when transaction volumes started to steadily grow again, Kim Grauer, senior economist at Chainalysis, said in an interview. “The reason for that drop is more law-enforcement activity,” Grauer said. “It would be misleading to think that this year [the volume] will go down.” Bitcoin, the largest crypto-currency...
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