In a post on the White House Market website, they indicate that they no longer accept Bitcoin. The White House Market already has more than 38,000 sales items.
People consider the White House to be the biggest market on the dark web today after DarkMarket went down. The new illegal market of the dark web represents a growing trend since they prefer to use Monero (XMR) to Bitcoin (BTC).
The name of the cryptocurrency Monero comes from the so-called universal language Esperanto and its translation is “coin” or “currency”. Its protocol uses some principles of Bitcoin, but with a new code base that focuses on privacy.
There has been debate about the privacy of both cryptocurrencies for a long time, but this is the first time that this has happened. A website that does not accept Bitcoin and only focuses on Monero has become the main market for the dark web.
Twitter user dark.fail (@DarkDotFail), an anonymous journalist specializing in the dark web and privacy, recently wrote about it.
“For the first time in the history of the dark web, the most active market does not accept Bitcoin. White House uses Monero, a cryptocurrency whose design safeguards the privacy of its previous owners, just like cash,” said dark.fail.
Those who enter the White House Market website can confirm the information through a brief message in the “Bitcoin” section. They explain that they no longer accept BTC and refer to a guide on using Monero. There they explain how to use it to trade on the White House Market. They have close to 3,000 salespeople, 38,000 articles/items, and just under 200,000 active customers at the time of writing this article.
In the opinion of the creators of this market, “Bitcoin lacks the necessary privacy.” Apart from that, “some users do not know how to use it and neglect to clean their coins.” For that reason, they removed the option to pay with BTC and will only accept the privacy-focused cryptocurrency that they currently accept.
Bitcoin and Monero and the Struggle for Privacy on the Dark Web
One study assessed the Monero adoption landscape, Bitcoin usage, and the struggle for privacy on dark web markets. The researchers found that there is a direct relationship between the products that they sell and the cryptocurrencies that they accept.
The growing concern about more private transactions has led the managers of these markets to view Monero as a good option. The fact that it focuses on privacy is one of the best qualities that they see.
Despite this, few dark web sites accept only Monero, and the preferred option is still Bitcoin. Most of them use this and other cryptocurrencies alongside Bitcoin, as in the case of recently closed DarkMarket.
Europol determined that DarkMarket had received a total of more than 4,650 BTC and 12,800 XMR, which is equivalent to more than USD 158 million. According to the prosecutors, the police authorities seized more than 20 servers in Moldova and Ukraine.
There are hundreds of illegal offers, such as drugs, documents, counterfeit money, and stolen access credentials, on the dark web. However, these markets also trade legal products for users who want to shop on the Internet with the greatest possible privacy.
By Alexander Salazar
