Dark Web Users Ditch Bitcoin for Litecoin owing to Costly/Slow Transactions
Slow transaction times and high fees are causing dark web users to favor Litecoin and, to a lesser extent, Dash, over bitcoin. A new report by Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company, has found that dark web criminals began turning away from bitcoin in 2017 because of slow processing and high fees.
Recorded Future analyzed 150 dark web message boards, marketplaces and illicit services and found Litecoin has become second most used coin after bitcoin, followed by Dash.
Bitcoin Economically Unfeasible
The analysis found that since 2017, bitcoin payments have become economically infeasible due to a tenfold increase in transaction cost that can account for as much as 30% of smaller payment amounts. The slowness of transactions was also cited.
One Russian dark web user released a statement advising vendors they had to find an alternative to bitcoin to keep his business.
The average transactions in the underground economy begin at between $50 and $300. Speed of payment is important on the dark web, as delays increase the risk of being cheated.
The prospect of having to wait up to 24 hours to confirm transactions, along with high payment fees, has rendered bitcoin payments unusable for many dark web users.
