What is Dark Web?
We first came to know about the term darknet in the 1970s and this was a term used to denote private networks which had a high level of privacy. This seemingly surreptitious part of the internet, at first, was innocuous and halcyon.
But then, it gradually became a haven for the communication and planning of criminal activities. The dark web, apart from allowing these illicit plans to surface, also facilitated the trade and cryptocurrencies, most especially- Bitcoin, became the currency of choice.
Relation between Cryptocurrencies and the Dark Web
Blockchain set out to solve the issue of centralization. With the decentralized blockchain technology, so much can be achieved with this technology and this is the bedrock of cryptocurrency. The total value of bitcoin transacted on the dark web is up 65% over the year, and 340% over three years, according to a report from Bitcoin technology company Bitfury. Apart from Bitcoin, currencies like Monero have features such as stealth addresses which generates an address for receiving funds. These addresses are traceable but cannot be traced back to the original owner.
What is Dark wallet?
Cryptocurrency mixing systems such as SmartMixer or Dark Wallet are a primary instrument of money laundering used by criminals active in the dark web and seeking anonymity. Dark Wallet was created in 2014 by Amir Taaki and Cody Wilson and it’s an open source bitcoin platform designed to render its users anonymous and to obfuscate bitcoin transactions. One if its principal uses is coin mixing. What coin mixing does is combine a user’s transaction with that of other random users who happen to be making separate transactions through the system at the same time. It joins the bitcoins of the two or more users and mixes them together so as to conceal their origin. The user can instruct the software to pay the seller in cut up chunks of the original price (0.4 + 0.2 + 0.1 instead of the 0.7 bitcoins) or at a delayed date that they can set. This makes it extremely difficult for an outside party to determine who made a particular transaction.
Conclusion:
While Bitcoin remains the most used cryptocurrency due to its familiarity, a shift towards more privacy-oriented currencies is taking place and will continue to grow as criminals become more technology and security aware. Terrorist organizations are also expected to increase their use of the dark web for various means, including acquiring weapons, buying passports, and creating anonymized and safe channels of communication. It’s predicted that the dark web will turn darker and more sophisticated in the coming years, becoming a real “Amazon of crime.”
