Massive Bitcoin Shopping Spree To Hit Dark Web In 2019: Research

The latest cryptocurrency news hint on a massive Bitcoin shopping spree which will result in a lot of BTC being spent in underground marketplaces this year. The news come after a report from the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis in which they predict that the use of Bitcoin on the dark web will reach over $1 billion in 2019 and with that hit a new record.

As initially reported by Bloomberg, the blockchain surveillance startup (Chainalysis) revealed that so far this year, approximately $515 million has been spent in illegal online marketplaces. These included purchasing a variety of goods and services such as child pornography, banned substances and stolen credit card information.

Chainalysis is constantly featured in the altcoin news of our website. With this report hinting on a massive Bitcoin shopping spree, the company believes that the total amount will exceed what was spent on the dark web in 2014 and 2015. The current pace shows that the amount of BTC spent on the dark web will eclipse 2018 and 2017. To remind you, around $0.87 billion was spent on the dark web using Bitcoin in 2017 alone, which was the highest amount ever spent in one year.

The Chanalysis findings don’t end with the potential massive Bitcoin shopping spree, though. As many best cryptocurrency news sites noted, the findings also mention that Hydra is currently the largest illegal online marketplace. Even though Bitcoin does not offer complete anonymity, it is still the cryptocurrency of choice on the dark web, followed by Monero (XMR) as the second most popularly accepted crypto in the illegal online marketplace.

Chainalysis: Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency accepted on dark markets, followed by Monero. Dark web spending to reach $1B this year. https://t.co/LEPERzaPgG #Monero

— Crypto Mak 🌐 (@crypto__mak) July 1, 2019

The growing realization of the traceability of Bitcoin transactions puts another toll on this issue. Chainalysis found that the use of Bitcoin in illegal activity was under 1% of all transactions in the first six months of this year. In 2012, this figure was seven percent.

Another survey conducted by the Global Drug Survey (GDS) which is a London-based research organization was in the altcoin news – again hinting that there is a growing prevalence of using darknet markets with crypto – to purchase drugs. The report said:

“Over the last 6 years, there has been a year on year increase in the percentage of GDS participants obtaining drugs on the darknet in most countries. Over ¼ of participants reporting darknet market use in the last 12 months began their use in the year 2018: they were new recruits to the darknet.”