Despite the lack of individual interest in the purchase, according to Chainalysis, the marketplaces at Darknet manage to generate revenue exceeding US$ 1.7 Billion – an all-time high record. Chainalysis also points out Hydra Market as the major contributor for Darknet’s annual revenue generation for 2020.
A report titled “Crypto Crime Report” has recently been published by Chainalysis which deals with annual revenue generation by Darknet. As per the report, multiple marketplaces at Darknet collectively managed to generate revenue to the tune of crypto worth approximately US$ 1.7 Billion. Historically, this is by far the all-time high annual revenue generation that the market successfully earned in 2020 alone. The ultimate revenue booster and collector for Darknet was its prominent marketplace called Hydra market.
Hydra Market is the largest marketplace at Darknetwhich is involved in selling illegal goods and items. This marketplace, which is dominated mostly by Russians, sells goods and accepts payments in cryptocurrencies. Hydra was founded in 2015 and its main selling product is supplying illegal drugs which are usually banned. But the marketplace is infamously known also for serving only those countries where people speak the Russian language.
It was suggested by Chainalysis that without Hydra Market, the Darknet’s revenue collection would have remained on the lower side. However, this Russian dominated marketplace single-handedly outperformed every other marketplace at Darkent in terms of generating revenues. This is why since 2019 till to date, Hydra has overshadowed its Western counterparts as well.
As per Chainalysis’s report, at least 75% of revenue sharing was contributed by Darknet alone. It wouldn’t be wrong to suggest also that Hydra is currently the biggest Darknet’s marketplace globally. The report further revealed that Hydra Market alone is the driving factor behind promoting/encouraging Europe’s prime sector for crypto as well. Due to this reason, the major chunk of illegal proceeds earned through crypto transactions is well within this region.
The authorities have also grown concerns over the unique mechanism of goods delivery to consumers because 100% of goods are delivered undetected.
Chainalysis also noted in the report that a large number of Darknet’s consumers are part of North America and Europe. While major portion of stolen crypto is laundered by criminals through OTC-exchanges present in the regions of China as well as Eastern Europe.
Chainalysissuggest that most of the incoming and outgoing money from Darkent is from countries such as the US, China, Russia, and Ukraine. Apart from these countries, Vietnam and Venezuela are too highly ranked consumer countries for Darknet.
Some of the findings observed by Chainalysis were relating to Russia and China regarding their transactional data with Darknet marketplaces. Chainalysis suggested that both countries are actively involved in money laundering activities. Furthermore, criminals from China and Russia then use Darknet’s market for whitening the proceeds.
