Monero (XMR) Supplants Bitcoin (BTC) in Black Market Transactions
An interesting note for today is that Monero, trading as XMR, has begun supplanting Bitcoin for the dominant currency used on the dark web. While BTC has been around for a very long time and has a strong backing in the cryptocurrency community, Monero continues to impress those engaging in criminal activities as the coin’s ledger is completely anonymous. Bitcoin has drawn criticism for being far too complex to trade in a timely fashion and the increasing transaction fees have driven away those who partake in cryptocurrency exchanges regularly. Ironically, the insurgence of Bitcoin coming to mainstream investors was due in large part to the loyalty displayed by criminals while the digital economy was developing.
As ZCash and Dash have taken a large portion of illicit cryptocurrency volume, BTC has fallen from 30% some years ago to a paltry 1% of all dark web transactions. To fill the void, XMR has stepped up to fulfill the demand for privacy and secure purchases helping the coin rise in value in the process. Also, as Bitcoin has been seen as a long-term investment by many, the availability of the cryptocurrency is not as prevalent compared to Monero whose pervasiveness continues to grow in the dark web’s sphere of influence. The increased exposure of Bitcoin being traded in unregulated markets has led to law enforcement to take a strong interest in tracking her as an astounding $172M worth of the cryptocurrency has reportedly been stolen over the past four years.
The added features of Monero and the strong secure aspects of her technology has allowed hackers from all over the world to use the currency as ransom. While unsuspecting victims of software theft become lured by phishing schemes, programs can be installed without the user being aware. Once all the personal data on a computer has successfully been copied and sent back to the perpetrator, users soon find that their devices are being held hostage with a payment in XMR as their only way to freedom. This recent and startling trend has taken over millions of computer systems worldwide and has sent shockwaves through financial markets as the uncertainty of the possibility of a hack in a device’s lifetime is almost imminent. The $72B worth of illegal Bitcoin transactions speaks volume of the size of the criminal enterprises that are working in the cryptocurrency arena and is telling of the growing pains of the developing digital economy.
