The value of Monero has more than tripled in the last ten days moving from around $2.47 to $8.10 as at the time of this publication. Described as the new digital currency that online drug-dealers have started to adopt because it enables them to conduct business with more anonymity, the price of two-year-old Monero skyrocketed lately, driven by the announcement of several darknet markets to accept Monero as payment. AlphaBay, one of the most popular sites for buying drugs like liquid LSD and hybrid cannabis, said last week it has partnered Oasis to begin accepting Monero on September 1. This led to increased media coverage , attracting more speculators towards the currency. Whether the factor behind the quick rise is solely due to darknet markets’ adoption is unknown. However, with the report by RAND Europe that says illegal drug transactions on cryptomarkets have tripled since 2013, with revenues doubling, it couldn’t be far from being a major factor. The research institute 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) followed closely by the U.K. (16.1 percent), Australia (10.6 percent), Germany ( 8.4 percent) and The Netherlands (7.1 percent) revenue share. Another factor that could have contributed to the rise is the growing efforts to decriminalize Bitcoin use which may have shifted attention from the top cryptocurrency. A group of researchers two weeks ago announced the creation of an analysis tool for US law enforcement that can be used to overcome the challenges of criminals using Bitcoin for transactions. Sandia ‘s work focused on law enforcement’s most immediate need to reduce the time and resources necessary to trace illicit commerce. Trading in Monero has also increased with exchanges such Poloniex recording more than 1,300 […]
