Cryptomarkets’ Phenomenon: A Conceptualization Approach

Basheer, Randa

doi:10.1155/2022/6314913

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Purchasing drugs on cryptomarkets involves four generic stages: informational accumulation, account formation, market exchange, and delivery/receipt (Jardine, 2021). Cryptomarkets rely on three technological innovations to conceal transactions: The Onion Router (TOR) network that anonymizes web traffic, untraceable cryptocurrencies, and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption to mask emails (Basheer, 2022). A platform owner pays an administrator to serve as an intermediary to transactions, namely a third party that can bring together buyers and sellers in exchange for a fee.…”

Section: Cryptomarketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid Governance in Online Drug Distribution

Møller

2022

Contemporary Drug Problems

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A growing share of illicit drug dealing occurs on online platforms. Technological innovations, such as encryption and anonymous payments, have enabled new and more complex ways of organizing transactions. This conceptual essay advances the study of online drug dealing by describing how governance mechanisms from markets, networks, and hierarchies are combined to reduce transactional uncertainty. Based on published research, I argue that cryptomarkets and social media drug distribution prioritize prices, trust, and rules differently, and that this can be understood as hybrid governance. In cryptomarkets, networked reputation scores are important, but their reliability is interdependent of administrators’ sanctioning capacity. Similarly, the open advertisement of prices and products relies on the ability to expose fraudulent vendors. On social media, buyers prioritize easy access and fast delivery and characteristics of market governance, while hierarchical rules are absent, and networked reputations play only a small role. Existing typologies of drug dealing organization do not capture these combinations of governance mechanisms. Hybrid governance and the interdependence of several governance mechanisms better capture the empirical reality of new and emerging modes in online drug distribution.

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Section: Cryptomarketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid Governance in Online Drug Distribution

Møller

2022

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“…non-suspicious packaging), encrypted messaging services, and cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Monero) (Basheer, 2022). Although Bitcoin, the most widely traded cryptocurrency, is still present in the darknet markets, the deterioration of its untraceability has led to the rise of altcoins such as Monero and Ethereum on these platforms (Bahamazava & Nanda, 2022; European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation., 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution to the harm assessment of darknet markets: topic modelling drug reviews on Dark0de Reborn

Szigeti,

Frank,

Kiss

2024

Crime Sci

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Amid the global opioid crisis, the volume of drug trade via darknet markets has risen to an all-time high. The steady increase can be explained by the reliable operation of darknet markets, affected by community-building trust factors reducing the risks during the process of the darknet drug trade. This study was designed to explore the risk reduction efforts of the community of a selected darknet market and therefore contribute to the harm assessment of darknet markets. We performed Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modelling on customer reviews of drug products (n = 25,107) scraped from the darknet market Dark0de Reborn in 2021. We obtained a model resulting in 4 topics (coherence score = 0.57): (1) feedback on satisfaction with the transaction; (2) report on order not received; (3) information on the quality of the product; and (4) feedback on vendor reliability. These topics identified in the customer reviews suggest that the community of the selected darknet market implemented a safer form of drug supply, reducing risks at the payment and delivery stages and the potential harms of drug use. However, the pitfalls of this form of community-initiated safer supply support the need for universally available and professional harm reduction and drug checking services. These findings, and our methodological remarks on applying text mining, can enhance future research to further examine risk and harm reduction efforts across darknet markets.

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Online and offline determinants of drug trafficking across countries via cryptomarkets

Giommoni

Décary‐Hétu

Berlusconi

et al. 2023

Crime Law Soc Change

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Drug cryptomarkets are a significant development in the recent history of illicit drug markets. Dealers and buyers can now finalize transactions with people they have never met, who could be located anywhere across the globe. What factors shape the geography of international drug trafficking via these cryptomarkets? In our current study, we test the determinants of drug trafficking through cryptomarkets by using a mix of social network analysis and a new dataset composed of self-reported transactions. Our findings contribute to existing research by demonstrating that a country’s level of technological advancement increases the probability of forming trafficking connections on cryptomarkets. Additionally, we found that a country’s capacity to police cryptomarkets reduces the number of trafficking connections with other countries. We also observed that trafficking on cryptomarkets is more likely to occur between countries that are geographically close. In summary, our study highlights the need to consider both online and offline factors in research on cryptomarkets.

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Cryptomarkets’ Phenomenon: A Conceptualization Approach

Cited by 4 publications

References 29 publications

Hybrid Governance in Online Drug Distribution

Hybrid Governance in Online Drug Distribution

Contribution to the harm assessment of darknet markets: topic modelling drug reviews on Dark0de Reborn

Online and offline determinants of drug trafficking across countries via cryptomarkets

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