Directors and sellers on darkish internet marketplaces had a greater 2023 than the earlier 12 months, pulling in an estimated $1.7bn in cryptocurrency-based revenues, in keeping with new Chainalysis information.
The blockchain evaluation firm studied cryptocurrency flows from these underground marketplaces and fraud retailers over the previous 12 months.
The rise in income got here after a torrid 2022 for the business after its largest participant, Hydra, was shut down by the German authorities.
As a substitute, Mega Darknet now leads the pack with over half a billion {dollars} of crypto inflows, adopted by Kraken Market and Blacksprut.
Nevertheless, general the sector has fragmented considerably from the times when Silk Highway, AlphaBay, Wall Avenue Market and Hydra dominated the roost. At the moment, no single participant is dominant like these marketplaces have been earlier than their takedown, with directors preferring to concentrate on specific sorts of items and providers.
“Through the years some markets … developed a sturdy catalog of illicit providers like cash laundering, fiat offramping, and merchandise that allow cyber-criminal actions like ransomware and malware assaults. One such subtle darknet market, Hydra, supplied all that and extra,” Chainalysis defined.
“Against this, it seems in the present day’s darknet markets largely serve particular niches and have individually organized themselves into distinctive prison features, which we decided when analyzing the origin factors for darknet market inflows final 12 months.”
These features are:
- Cybercrime enablement associated to ransomware, malware, stolen funds and different sorts of cybercrime. It might embody the sale of root kits, entry to personally identifiable data (PII) and offramping for stolen funds
- Drug sourcing and provide: promoting medication to distributors on different darknet markets
- Different illicit laundering/shopping for: transfers made to darknet markets with the intention to obfuscate on-chain exercise or buy unlawful merchandise
- Relaxation-of-world drug alternate: drug purchases made on darknet markets serving a world buyer base
- Russian-serving drug alternate: drug purchases made by Russian clients
- Western-facing drug alternate: drug purchases made by clients primarily based within the US and Western Europe
Chainalysis additionally famous that some markets are brazenly promoting their wares in Russia, with big 3D billboards (Kraken Market) and QR codes on subway trains (Mega Darknet Market).
It added that many fraud retailers are more and more providing third-party crypto-payment processors like UAPS through API calls, as a option to cut back their very own prices, enhance operational effectivity and enhance safety.
