$1 billion in crypto will be spent on the dark web this year; but under 1% of all bitcoin transactions – Report

Crypto transactions on the dark web are set to hit a record $1 billion by the end of 2019, Bloomberg writes.

According to research by Chainalysis, crypto usage on the dark web has amounted to a new high of $515 million since the start of the year. Besides bitcoin, Monero is also widely used on the dark web primarily to purchase drugs, child pornography and stolen credit-card information.

Nevertheless, illicit transactions constitute less than 1 per cent of all Bitcoin transactions. This has decreased from the 7 per cent seen in 2012, according to Chainalysis senior product manager of data Hannah Curtis.

The Financial Action Task Force recently released new guidelines to help counter the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering and terrorism.