According to the news of BlockBeats, according to a recent report released by Crystal Blockchain, a crypto analysis department of mining giant Bitfury, the use of bitcoin mixer services by “dark web” users is increasing.
According to the report, by the first quarter of 2020, the share of bitcoin sent by the “dark web” entity to the mixer has risen to 20%, while in the first quarter of 2019, this proportion was only 1%. On the other hand, the share of bitcoin sent to crypto trading platforms with verification requirements fell from 24% in the first quarter of 2019 to 13% in the first quarter of 2020.
Crystal Blockchain believes: “This may be a response to the strengthened supervision and verification procedures of the trading platform, causing the darknet bitcoin owners to switch to other services to confuse their bitcoin sources.”
Overall, in the first quarter of 2020, the “dark web” entity sent 7,946 bitcoins to the mixer service, while in the first quarter of 2019, only 790 bitcoins were sent. In terms of U.S. dollars, its value has increased dramatically from US $ 3 million in the first quarter of 2019 to US $ 67 million in the first quarter of 2020.
The number of bitcoins received by “darknet” users through the mixer service has also tripled, from 106 bitcoins in the first quarter of 2019 to 288 bitcoins in the first quarter of 2020. In dollar terms, it increased from US $ 400,000 in the first quarter of 2019 to nearly US $ 2 million in the first quarter of 2020.
When more trading platforms implement FATF (Financial Action Task Force) requirements, users of the “dark web” are trying to avoid the risk of these trading platforms disclosing their activities. In order to cover up the activities of the dark web, they began to prefer the currency mixer service instead of directly swapping out the funds and leaving the market, “Crystal Blockchain said.
As far as the US dollar is concerned, the amount of “dark web” physical transactions has increased-from US $ 384 million in the first quarter of 2019 to US $ 411 million in the first quarter of 2020. The capitalization of Bitcoin and the further popularization of Bitcoin are some of the reasons for this phenomenon. As the use of cryptocurrencies becomes easier, the popularity of this payment method is steadily increasing, “the company said.