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Crypto Darknet transactions exploded in 2018
Since Bitcoin (BTC) exploded on the global stage in 2009, cryptocurrency, known for its decentralized, immutable, censorship, pseudonian and borderless nature, has become a means for transactions of all shapes and sizes. And just like US dollars and other currencies issued by the government, BTC has found cases of use in illicit transactions. Whether it's buying questionable goods or not, the top cryptocurrency has found a place.
According to a recent report by Reuters, which cited data collected by Chainalysis, a major blockchain data analysis consortium, transactions related to bitcoins on darknet markets, which offer false documents, over-the-counter (recreational) drugs, among other smuggling, they have risen sharply since January 2018. This darknet-related transaction rally comes when the BTC has gone from an all-time high of $ 20,000 to an annual low of $ 3,150 at the end of December.
It is unclear how the analysis group, which is often used by government agencies to eliminate bad actors, discerned "normal" and questionable transactions, but Chainalysis revealed that $ 2 million a day of BTC were routed through the pari of Darknet. peer-to-peer markets. In total, $ 600 million was spent on darknet markets in 2018, compared to $ 700 million in 2017. While the decline in transaction value could be seen in a negative light, considering that BTC has fallen by more than 70% in the same period, a decline of 14.3% is relatively simple.
Kim Grauer, senior economist at Chainalysis, has taken the slight decline in darknet transactions towards the closure of AlphaBay and Hansa, two "main markets" in mid-2017, which have presumably arrested the flows towards the beginning of 2018. Grauer he added:
The reason for this fall is more contrast activity … It would be misleading to think that this year (volume) will go down.
Because this statistic is bullish for Bitcoin
So you could be wandering about the title and thinking, because this non-innocuous statistic is an optimistic signal for BTC and for the broader market / sector of cryptocurrency?
Well, let me explain. Even if they do not agree with (much of) what happens through the darknet, the increase in "illicit" transactions underscores a bullish and forward-looking bitcoin trend. More specifically, the monumental growth of the basic fundamentals of Bitcoin throughout 2018. So do not make mistakes, while the price collapse is unbearable, people still use BTC in transactions, not just pure speculation.
According to previous reports by Ethereum World News, data collected by Jameson Lopp, the head of technology at Casa, accentuated the fact that, from a fundamental perspective, 2018 was the best year for Bitcoin. Hashrate doubled, while a total of $ 410 billion worth of value was placed on the "transaction level of the safest transaction in the world". Bitcoin scalability solutions have also seen considerable levels of adoption. SegWit, a solution & # 39; bandaid-esque & # 39; In the short term, which compresses multiple block transactions, it has seen the use inflated from 10% to 40% compared to 2018. Lightning Network, a long-term scaling solution that uses off-the-books books to facilitate truly free transactions, low-cost, scalable, immutable and private, delivered to 500+ BTC.
And while the specific statistics for 2019 are scarce and hard to find, preliminary data indicate that the next 12 months will continue to see cryptocurrency and the leading blockchain network continue to gain traction. This is not an unfounded speculation. For our previous reports, Coinstar, a supplier of North American kiosks with tens of thousands of offers throughout the United States and Canada, has recently joined Coinme, a Bitcoin ATM cashpoint, to implement its services in Coinstar terminals. Now, over 20,000 kiosks can buy BTCs with their spare parts.
Title Image courtesy of Noah Silliman Via Unsplash
