Dark web

Despite the “bitcoin is for criminals” narrative, the proportion of criminal cryptocurrency transactions was less than 1 percent in 2020.

The “world’s largest” darknet marketplace, DarkMarket, was shut down by authorities. It reportedly facilitated 4,650 BTC in transactions.

The latest unlicensed bitcoin exchange conviction led authorities to seize $889,000 and 54.3 in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis has found that only a small fraction of coins sent to bitcoin mixers were previously used for illicit purposes.

Chainalysis estimates that $1 billion dollars will be spent on illegal businesses on the dark web in 2019, but that the proportion of bitcoin transactions that involve illegal activity has declined.

A new generation of darknet markets is already filling the void left behind by their fallen competitors

"Bitcoin 2019 is about realigning our collective focus toward what really matters — innovation, community, inclusivity and memes. It’s about bringing together the industry to build relationships as well as partnerships."

Messages on darknet-specific forums and reports by news sites like Deep Dot Web indicate that digital black markets Dream Market and Wall Street Market have both become unusable.

In what the Manhattan District Attorney calls the first crypto money laundering conviction in New York, two defendants have pleaded guilty to running a drug trafficking business that laundered millions of dollars in Western Union and crypto payments.

A Canadian drug dealer has been ordered to forfeit about 281.41 bitcoin after it was found that he used the cryptocurrency to fund his illegal activities. It’s been reported as Canada’s largest-ever bitcoin forfeiture.