Father and Son AlphaBay Vendor Tandem Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison

One wouldn’t normally associate darknet usage with strengthening family ties. For a team of two US-based drug dealers, that situation is a bit different. This father-son team successfully sold drugs over the darknet for an extended period of time. Both family members will now serve five years in federal prison for their misconduct. A Family-Oriented … Read more

US Confiscates Millions in Cryptocurrencies in Alphabay Forfeiture Case

This month the US District Court of Eastern California has been very busy dealing with cases involving the infamous and now defunct darknet marketplace the Alphabay. The Federal courthouse in Fresno just recently wrapped up the forfeiture case involving the alleged Alphabay leader Alexandre Cazes. Further, the Fresno courthouse has charged and have plans to … Read more

Deep Web Roundup: New Search Engine + Tor Browser, Same Old War on Drugs

In this latest edition of our periodic deep web series, we bring news of Tor 8 – the most feature-rich onion browser yet. We also take a first look at a clearnet web browser that trawls the darknet, and cover the fallout from the Alphabay shutdown, whose repercussions rumble on to this day. Also read: Russian … Read more

The Darknet Cat and Mouse Game: Law Enforcement Gains More Traction

Since the dawn of the Silk Road and the myriad of darknet markets (DNM) that followed, it’s been a cat and mouse game between law enforcement and DNM vendors and users. Also read: Proof-of-Stake is a Rebranded Version of the Old Financial System Operation Bayonet For a while, after the Silk Road was taken down it … Read more

Bitcoin in Brief Thursday: Busted in Bangkok

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief, there’s a lot to chew over. The crypto-coaster dazes Asian millennials, Kucoin asks some awkward questions, everyone wants to own an exchange, and why do so many bitcoiners get busted in Bangkok? Also read: Bitcoin in Brief Wednesday: Satoshi’s Millions and the Price of Publicity Kucoin Has a Question … Read more

Big Sister Watching: IMF’s Lagarde Warns of Crypto’s Dark Side

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde released a blog post Tuesday, March 13, Addressing the Dark Side of the Crypto World. In it, she argues increasing fascination with cryptocurrencies has brought along grave costs: money laundering, terrorism, and economic instability. Also read: Québec Premier: We’re Not Really Interested in Bitcoin Mining IMF Managing Director … Read more

New Research: Laundering of Illicit Funds Less than 1% of Bitcoin Transactions

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center of Sanctions and Illicit Finance in conjunction with blockchain analytics company, Elliptic, has published a study seeking to track the circulations of illicit funds within the bitcoin economy from 2013 to 2016. The research concludes that the share of funds of illicit origin comprises less than one percent … Read more

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Privacy Coins

With over 50 privacy coins on the market, purveyors of anonymous transactions are spoilt for choice. This smorgasbord of privacy-centric coins can be a little overwhelming though. To help you pick the best of the bunch, here’s our rundown of the main contenders. Also read: Meet ‘Cash Shuffle’, the Privacy-Centric Protocol for Bitcoin Cash How Privacy … Read more