Since the cryptocurrency boom of last year and its subsequent fall, blockchain currencies have had rocky start yet a bright potential. Their anonymity in an age of increasing data collection has allowed them to gain value and be seen as the possible currency of the future. However, their shady past has led many astray and skeptical over the product and its power.
The dark web can allow for people to buy drugs, pornography, weapons, and even order hit men. TOR, The Onion Router, is the main tool to get into the deep web and allows for many to be redirected to the many famous websites of the deep web.
Disclaimer: The deep web is unsafe and can lead to one being hacked, so if you or anyone you know attempts to go through the dark web, go in at your own caution. Also, I will not direct you on how to get to the deep web or what you should do whilst there.
There are several narcotic and illegal activity websites and networks on the deep web, one of which is the Silk Road. The Silk Road is an online market for narcotics, paraphernalia, and other illegal items. Due to the anonymous nature that comes with bitcoin and the ease of use that comes with it, blockchain currencies were the main candidate for buying and selling contraband through the dark web and especially the Silk Road. The Silk Road, along with this, had a system enabling vendors and clients to be anonymous, keeping the whole process anonymous and ‘secure’.
Blockchain currencies appear to leave little to no trace during sales of contraband helping whatever shadowy person to escape any sort of punishment or jail time for heavy offenses. By allowing for this to happen, several websites like Silk Road are allowed to remain untouched and ultimately grow. These websites are generally hard to get to and have had several takedowns by FBI, Europol, and several other agencies to help combat the worldwide darknet black market. Luckily, with the fall of the Silk Road, FBI and other agencies have been able to unwrap the code that kept vendors and customers secret and arrest any perpetrators showing that not everything is kept hidden.
Blockchain payments can also be re-traced to a person’s public account meaning that even ‘anonymous’ payments could come back to backfire against someone if the FBI or any other government agency investigates. This can happen since blockchain records all transactions keeping a library on a person and if they are not careful and skew their original payment’s location then they could easily be re-traced.
It turns out that things do stay permanently on the internet.
In conclusion, blockchain currencies like bitcoin and ethereum are still generally used by dark internet entities. However, government agencies across the globe have been hard at work attempting to apprehend and arrest those who are involved in illegal deep web businesses. Even then, these networks will still be up and will still cause trouble for all, but through the future developments of blockchain, the world may be able to combat deep web drug networks.
Sources:
- https://www.wired.com/story/bitcoin-drug-deals-silk-road-blockchain/
- https://www.policeone.com/police-products/investigation/articles/482382006-Cryptocurrency-101-What-cops-need-to-know-about-crime-cryptocurrencies-and-the-dark-web/
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/21/fbi-cracks-silk-road/2984921/
- https://silkroaddrugs.org/the-effect-of-silk-road-on-bitcoin-and-tor/
