Bitcoin on the Dark Web: The Facts

Just how much do we know about new underground economies? Here's what available data can tell us about bitcoin on the Dark Web.

AccessTimeIconSep 23, 2015 at 4:44 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 11:53 a.m. UTC
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Bitcoin has been the de facto currency of the Dark Web – the 'hidden' Internet accessible only by Tor – since the pioneering marketplace Silk Road, the 'eBay of drugs', arrived in 2011.

But just how much do we know about these new underground economies? Who is buying and selling – and what? Here's what available data can tell us about bitcoin on the Dark Web.

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