US, UK Top Cryptomarkets Online Illegal Drug Trades

By August 8, 2016Bitcoin Business

Compared to the days of Silk Road in 2013, the number of transactions of illicit drugs on the cryptomarkets has tripled, with revenues doubling, says a new report by RAND Europe. The not-for-profit research institute, whose mission is to help improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis, names vendors who indicated they were operating from the U.S. as having the highest market share of drugs (35.9 percent of total drug revenues). This is closely followed by the U.K. (16.1 percent) and Australia (10.6 percent). Germany is next at 8.4 percent while The Netherlands had a 7.1 percent revenue share. That is 890 vendors operating from the United States followed by 338 from the United Kingdom and 225 from Germany. Online Drugs a Niche Market Commissioned by the Research and Documentation Centre on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, RAND Europe came up with a study that looked at the characteristics of vendors, buyers and other actors involved in online drugs trade. It also looked into the type of narcotics being sold online, the size of online drugs trade and how this might be tackled through law enforcement activities. Total drug revenues on cryptomarkets (excluding prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco) during January 2016 were estimated to be between $12 million and $21.1 million. Considering that the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) states that the total offline market for drugs is much larger, and is estimated to be $2.3 billion on average per month for Europe alone, the figures suggest that cryptomarkets are only a niche market. However, it says there is evidence that drugs sold on cryptomarkets are fuelling offline drug markets with buyers sourcing stock for offline distribution. Top on the list of the reported illicit drugs sold on cryptomarkets are […]

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