Use of bitcoin doubled on dark net market sites last year, even as the price and value of the cryptocurrency crashed nearly all year long, according to a Reuters report which quotes data from Chainalysis.
Bitcoin transaction volumes on dark net markets rose to an average of $2 million daily by the end of the year, a two-fold growth over how the year began. However, the value of bitcoin flowing into dark net markets fell which the report attributes to closure of AlphaBay and Hansa in 2017, and increase law enforcement scrutiny thanks to that.