Darknet Markets Face Headwinds After Year of Mixed Results

The alleged leader of a darknet drug trafficking group has been extradited from Romania to Denver, to face multiple criminal charges. The alleged leader of the drug ring is suspected to be the brains behind the darknet vendor “ItalianMafiaBrussels”. Filip Lucian Simion, a 23-year-old man was extradited from Romania to Denver, Colorado to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Simion was arrested along with nine other defendants during a joint U.S./European law enforcement operation in the early hours of May 3, 2016. Simultaneous....

A study revealed that darknet markets have astonishing figures so far in 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, but the dynamics changed compared to the last year’s numbers. Darknet Vendors Surpassed $800 Million in Revenues Despite Covid Pandemic According to the Chainalysis report, darknet marketplaces surpassed the $800 million threshold worth of cryptocurrencies in revenue made in 2019, the all-time high. However, the exact figures for 2020 will be released in the “Chainalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report” in January 2021. However, the research firm noted that the....

Darknet market revenues hit a new all-time high in 2020, despite declining individual purchases from marketplaces. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis also spotted a singular driver behind the new record witnessed over the last year. Hydra Market Is the Major Driver Behind Revenue Figures in 2020 According to the Chainalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report, darknet markets brought in a total of $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2020. But the report unveiled that Hydra Market, one of the largest illegal marketplaces in the darknet, boosted the total revenue significantly. In fact,....

A deep dive into how Bitcoin’s lack of privacy and, by extension, its insufficient fungibility has led to its loss of market share in darknet markets.

At the end of 2020, darknet markets (DNM) set new records as marketplaces like White House and the Russian-language DNM Hydra led the pack. A report published on May 25, shows Hydra saw a 624% year-over-year growth rate in three years, and researchers estimate roughly 75% of illicit DNM transactions stem from the Russian marketplace. Moreover, the privacy coin monero is seeing a lot more vendor acceptance on DNMs these days. On June 29, monero captured 84% of vendor acceptance on three of the top marketplaces. The Complex Russian Darknet Market Hydra Eclipses 26 Marketplaces While....