Evolving and Diversifying Selling Practices on Drug Cryptomarkets: An Exploration of Off-Platform “Direct Dealing”

Abstract

This is the first study to explore how cryptomarket actors are increasingly adopting encrypted messaging applications to “ direct deal” beyond the provided platforms, to obviate the protocols of cryptomarkets, and to diversify the communication experience of drug buying via the dark net. Drawing on 965 forum posts discussing encrypted messaging applications, results showed that direct dealing may be more likely to occur in the context of preestablished trust between vendors and buyers, during instances of law enforcement crackdowns, and when buyers are enticed by discounts or promotions. Our findings also suggested a general hesitancy toward direct dealing, as it was often associated with greater exposure to scams, and perceptions that direct dealing increases the risks concerning personal security and detection from law enforcement. These findings provide insight into the interconnection of online drug markets, and how actors make decisions to drift between multichannel supply points mediated by perceptions of trust and risk.

Policing the Cybercrime Script of Darknet Drug Markets: Methods of Effective Law Enforcement Intervention

“…While technological innovation in drug exchange continues apace (Childs et al, 2020;Moyle et al, 2019), Darknet cryptomarkets are now a permanent feature of local, regional, and global drug supply (Winstock et al, 2019). Law enforcement has undertaken a number of market closures over time, but the ecosystem as a whole has proven to be very resistant to these actions (Décary-Hétu & Giommoni, 2017;Duxbury & Haynie, 2018;ElBahrawy et al, 2020;Van Buskirk et al, 2017).…”

“…PGP is highly effective, easy to employ, and has stood the test of time, making it a common security step employed by cryptomarket participants. It is not, however, strictly necessary, as messages can be sent between buyers and sellers via markets (at times with built in PGP) or via other peer-to-peer channels, such as the messaging applications Telegram or Signal, or private email services such as Proton Mail (Childs et al, 2020;Moyle et al, 2019).…”

“…Telegram or Signal) and would exchange funds directly. While direct exchanges raise a number of buyer anxieties about potential exposure to law enforcement via undercover operations and the quality of substances secured through such direct channels, decentralization of this sort is an increasingly common feature of the process of online drug exchange, particularly as law enforcement has increased their presence on the Darknet (Childs et al, 2020;Moyle et al, 2019;Shortis et al, 2020).…”

The success rate of online illicit drug transactions during a global pandemic

“…Their administrators offer a venue where independent drug dealers and users can transact with one another, in exchange for a commission on each sale. New business models are available to buyers and sellers where sellers can offer same-day delivery for example, or even direct dealing ( Childs et al., 2020 ). The principal benefits of cryptomarkets are the security and anonymity they provide ( Aldridge & Décary-Hétu, 2014 ; Tzanetakis, 2018 ; Van Hout & Bingham, 2013 ).…”

Beyond the dark web: navigating the risks of cannabis supply over the surface web

“…There are numerous examples demonstrating a growing recognition that dark web cryptomarkets can take on varying forms, such as single-vendor marketplaces (Flamand & Decary-Hetu, 2019), markets that do not resemble the typical eBay/Amazon archetype (e.g. categorised vendor information, review and feedback systems) (Bancroft, Squirrell, Zaunseder, & Rafanell, 2019), and that some buyers and sellers choose to 'direct deal' via an encrypted messaging application and avoid the traditional protocols of dark web drug supply (Childs, Coomber, Bull, & Barratt, 2020). As these market variations occur, the arrangement of elements that form a drug exchange is reformed and a new assemblage becomes stabilised which alters the production and experience of risk in the drug exchange.…”