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Bitfury's blockchain analysis service, Crystal Analytics, gives us an overview of the Darknet in its latest report. More specifically, the file presents the bitcoin flows between Darknet and crypto exchange platforms.
Bitcoin is still the currency of choice for Darknet
Bitcoin is not recommended for making illicit payments. The transparent nature of its blockchain and the power of analysis tools regularly make it possible to compromise the identity of its users.
According to Crystal Analytics , however, it remains the most used payment network on the Darknet .
The quantity of BTC passing between Darknet entities and external entities during the first quarter of 2020 is slightly less than in 2019. However, this represents a larger sum, evaluated in dollars. This is due to the rise in the price of Bitcoin, but also to its increasing ease of use .
Exchange platforms without KYC are popular
Most Darknet users prefer to use exchange platforms that do not apply strict KYC / AML procedures. However, the amount of bitcoins arriving on the Darknet from regulated platforms is still increasing.
Similarly, BTC flows between Darknet entities are up 10% compared to 2019.
Growing use of bitcoin mixing services
By taking a closer look at the bitcoin flows going to the Darknet, one fact jumps out at us: the explosion in the use of mixing services .
In the first quarter of 2019, only 1% of bitcoins went through mixers. In 2020, 20% of BTC entering Darknet pass through such services . We are talking about volumes going from 790 BTC in 2019 to 7,946 BTC in 2020, or even from 3 million dollars to 67 million in one year.
Mixing services are therefore becoming more and more successful and Darknet entities are increasingly in need of them. This is of course explained by the decrease in the number of platforms without KYC . The rules imposed by the Financial Action Task Force are even more stringent.
The Darknet entities are therefore wary of fully regulated platforms , and this is reflected in the volumes. Since the first quarter of 2019, the volume of bitcoins leaving the Darkweb to go to platforms imposing a KYC increased from 14,073 to 5,455 BTC.
In conclusion of the report, Crystal Analytics assures us that if Bitcoin is still used to carry out illegal transactions, its analysis tools increase in power .
The authors assure that the effect of the regulations imposed by the FATF and the EU is already palpable. Their tools would make it possible to easily monitor and identify these activities. The blockchain analysis company therefore anticipates major changes in the flows studied above in 2020.
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